Change of Fate
by FantasyBladeAncient
Summary: Aerith/Zack, reworking of FF7. Cloud was accepted into SOLDIER and did not accompany Zack on his mission to Nibelheim. Zack lives and takes Cloud's place in AVALANCHE, while Cloud tries to come to grips with the Shrinra not being what he thought it was.
1. Prologue

Zack ran, he had been pursued for Shinra's forces for days. But he had finally lost them. He was free... for the moment. But what did he have to live for? When he had escaped from that hell of a lab Hojo had kept him in, he found out that over four years had passed. He had nothing left, he couldn't go home for fear of bringing Shinra down on his parents. He had been a loyal SOLDIER member, but had been betrayed by Shinra. It turned out that Shinra had been evil from the start. He had learned that his hometown had a quarter of its' population wiped out by a reactor accident, and that a town called Corel was burnt to the ground. Wutai had been brutally stripped of all its' materia and had been reduced to a tourist spot. Shinra was slowly killing the planet. Only one thought kept him going.

Aerith.

It was a mantra in his brain ever since he finished things with Genesis. He remembered Cissnei's words from so long ago. 'Aerith is the one under watch. She's an ancient, the last of her kind.' He felt a chill go down his spine when he thought of her. He had asked Tseng to watch her for him. But knowing what he knew now about Shinra and their plans, he had the horrible feeling that Tseng was the last person he should have asked. The thought of Aerith in one of Hojo's labs, as he tried to use her to create his 'perfect being' reviled and terrified him. He realized that the only reason that they hadn't captured her already is that they wanted Aerith to reach her full potential before being subjected to their horrific experiments. From the files he recovered in the rebuilt mansion, ancients usually realized their full powers a bit after their 21st birthday, which was any day now. So as he ran from Junon harbor, he prayed. Prayed the Shinra wouldn't find him, prayed he could make it Midgar, prayed that Aerith would not come to any harm, but most of all he prayed that she had not moved on. Four years was a long time, and for all he knew she could believe he had been killed or worse that he had met someone else and had forgot about her.

As if he could ever forget her. Her face, her smile was the one thing that kept him sane that terrible place. His one wish that he would somehow find his way back to Aerith and that she would still love him as much as he loved her. His other wish, that was somehow, someway, they could find a way to their happy ending. With that thought in his brain, he realized he would have to take a break. Even with his Mako enhanced body, he could not push himself any longer. Getting himself killed would do either him or Aerith no good. So he made camp and lay down, intending to catch a few hours sleep before continuing his journey. His last thoughts were of Aerith and how much he wanted to see her smile again and feel her kiss once more.


	2. AVALANCHE's Return

In a small church in the Sector 5 slums, a young girl tended her garden and sighed. Today was her 21st birthday. Her mother, her biological mother that is, had always told her that her 21st birthday was very important. It was a sign that she had passed into adulthood. But she didn't feel very adult. Her heart felt heavy. She had not seen or heard from Zack for over four years. Shinra had told him that he was dead, but she knew that was not the case. She would know if he had died. And so she still wrote him letters once a week, telling him every thing that had happened to her. Operation: Midgar Full of Flowers, Wallet Full of Money had become a great success.

After two years of hard work and careful coaching of the land, she had finally managed to get her flowers to grow in more than that one tiny spot in the church and now filled a large area behind the church and in a rather sizeable garden she had at her house. The slums of Midgar were now a little less gloomy now, with all the flowers about and she actually had saved a lot of gil. When she and her mother were going over her finances last week, they were both shocked to discover she had actually saved enough money to buy a modest priced home above the plate. That is, if she had any desire to live above the plate. She also thought, with growing dismay, that she had more than enough money to run. And she may have to do that very soon.

Lately she had been receiving more and more visits from the Turks and not just Tseng either. Their increased presence only meant once thing. The thing she had feared for as long as she could remember was about to come to pass. Now that she was coming into adulthood and her powers were maturing, Hojo would soon be coming for her. Her mother had not wanted to talk to her about it, but by seeing the look in her eyes, Aerith knew she had come to the same conclusion. She would have to leave soon, she would have left already except something told her not too. One of her Cetra powers were humming, telling her that something was going to happen. Something big she had to be here for.

So with a sense of growing anxiousness, Aerith gathered her flowers and stepped out of her church, feeling very uneasy, hoping that whatever she senses is going to happen soon and doesn't end with her in a cage in one of Hojo's labs.

* * *

Elsewhere, a train is pulling up in front of the Sector 1 Reactor. Two guards stand at the train's door with guns at their sides. As the door opens two men and a woman run out of the train, running towards the reactor. The guards quickly turn away from the train and towards the intruders, drawing their guns. Before they can fire them, however, another woman, a black-haired beauty, leaps out of the train and delivers a punch to one guard and a roundhouse kick, knocking them both out cold.

"Is this Shinra's best?" Tifa asks smiling. "I thought SOLDIER was supposed to be tough."

"These ain't SOLDIER." Barret says, the leader of AVALANCHE running to catch up to her. "These are just ordinary grunts, so don't be getting cocky."

"Nothing to get cocky about." Tifa says. "I've trained my body to be in top-fighting form, and have black-belts in fourteen types of martial arts. No Shinra SOLDIER is ever going to get the best of me again."

"What do you mean again?" Jessie asks, herself along with her two comrades Biggs and Wedge exiting behind Barret.

"Didn't you know? A renegade SOLDIER member wiped out her town a couple years ago." Wedge said. "Burnt the town to the ground, leaving only a handful of survivors. Tifa barely got out alive."

"What happened?" Biggs asks.

"I don't want to talk about it." Tifa says. "Let's just get this thing over with, the sooner the reactors are destroyed the better."

As she finishes this Jessie manages to get the gate open.

"All right guys, this time it's for real." Barret says. "Now all of you split up to your positions. Tifa, this is your first mission so I'm going with you so you don't get over cocky."

"Sure thing Barret." Tifa says.

"I'll secure the exit route." Wedge says, running towards the exit escape tunnel.

"Yo! This your first time in a reactor?" Barret asks, as the four run to the inner gate.

"No, I've been in one before in Nibelheim." Tifa says, a hardness in her voice.

"Yeah, sorry." Barret says.

As the two are speaking, Jessie and Biggs manage to get the gate unlocked. Two security guards, run out and begin shooting at Tifa and Barret. Barret immediately returns fire, with his gun arm, killing one guard, while Tifa delivers a roundhouse kick, knocking out the other one.

"We should hurry." Barret says. "More security will be coming."

"Right." Biggs says. "I'll watch the entrance."

Jessie, Barret, and Tifa run to the elevator and enter it.

"Next stop reactor floor." Jessie says.

"You sure your bomb will work as planned?" Tifa asks.

"Yeah, no problem." Jessie says.

"You're not having second thoughts about this?" Barret asks.

"Not at all." Tifa says. "I just want to make sure when we take out these reactors no innocent civilians aren't killed in the blast."

"Well I can't promise no innocents will be killed in the blast, but I have done my best to minimize them." Jessie says. "This is a special bomb, which when placed in the fusion core of the reactor will cause the building to collapse in on itself. The Mako energy will return to the planet, rather then exploding outward. As long as no one is inside a two-block radius of the building, they shouldn't be injured."

"I see." Tifa says, slowly.

"Don't worry." Jessie says. "It's nighttime, there shouldn't be anyone near the reactors at this time of night. The only ones who are likely to be killed in the blast are the employees here and ain't nothing we can do about that. We need to stop the Shinra from extracting Mako energy."

"Mako energy, the lifeblood of the planet." Barret explains. "But Shinra keeps sucking' the blood out with these weird machines, slowly killing the planet to line their pockets with gil."

"I don't need a lecture." Tifa says. "Let's just hurry."

As soon as the elevator reaches the bottom floor, the trio runs out and are immediately attacked by two robo-guards. Jessie ducks for cover firing a random blast with her Lightning materia, while Barret lets lose with his gun arm. Between the two of them, one of the guards shorts out and blows up. In the meantime Tifa runs over to the other one and delivers a powerful blow to its' motion sensors, sending it crashing into the wall.

"OK, ladies let's hustle." Barret says.

The three quickly and quietly make their way to the bottom of the main reactor, without further incident.

"You've got the code?" Barret asks.

"Right here, Jessie says. "Inputting code."

As soon as Jessie is finished inputting the code, the door opens revealing then main reactor chamber. Jessie is about to go through the door when Tifa notices something behind her.

"Barret, Jessie!" Tifa screams. "More robots are coming, looks like a big one."

"Jessie, hurry!" Barret says.

"Just another minute." Jessie replies, setting the bomb to the reactor.

"Tifa." Barret says.

"On it." Tifa says.

With that Barret starts firing his gun arm at the creature, while Tifa leaps into the air and attempts to deliver a kick to its' back. But the creature raises its' tail laser, knocking Tifa away. Tifa is hit, but manages to recover and land on her feet.

"Time to get serious." Tifa says. "Barret, use your Big Shot."

"Right." Barret says, hitting a switch on his gun. "You're in for it now."

With that Barret unleashes a powerful beam of energy at the Guard Scorpion, causing it to stagger back. The Guard Scorpion is stunned for a moment, but quickly recovers and charges forward firing a barrage of machine gun fire at Barret. While it is distracted, Tifa leaps forward to attack it. It locks onto her and attempts to knock her back with its' tail again, but this time Tifa is ready for it and expertly dodges it. She then hits the machines' front sensors, causing its' tail to swing blindly. She them summersaults on to its back and punches out its' control circuits in the back, disabling it.

"Bomb set." Jessie says. "We have ten minutes to get out of here before detonation."

"Let's hustle." Barret says.

With that the three rush back towards the elevator. A few more robots come to attack the trio, but using a combination of Barret's gun, Jessie's materia, and Tifa's combat skills, they destroy all of them and manage to get back to the entrance just in time.

"Hey guys." Biggs says. "I was starting to get worried."

"No time to talk." Jessie says, still running. "We have less than a minute to get clear."

"That's all!" Biggs exclaims, as he joins the running trio. "I told you we should set the bomb for twenty-five minutes instead of ten."

"We've already had this conversation." Barret snaps. "Twenty-five is enough time to give Shinra a chance to dismantle the bomb."

"Hurry guys." Wedge calls out. "Escape passage secure, sir."

With that the group enters the tunnel, just seconds before the Mako reactor implodes in on itself and plunges all of Sector 1 into darkness.

"All right!" Wedge yells. "We did it."

"What do you mean, we did it?" Jessie asks. "Barret, Tifa, and I had the hard part."

"Hey guarding the escape passage is important too." Wedge asks.

"He's right." Barret says. "Don't want to be caught in an exploding reactor, with no way out do we? We're all a team, remember that."

"Sorry boss." Jessie answers, as she turns to plant a bomb to blow the sewer gate open.

"Well that should keep the planet going." Biggs says. "At least for a little longer."

"Yeah." Wedge says.

"Everyone stand back." Jessie warns.

The group quickly takes a step back and then Jessie presses a button causing the gate to blow. The group quickly goes through it and exits onto the Sector 8 streets.

"All right, now let's get out of here." Barret says. "Rendezvous at Sector 8 Station! Split up and get on the train!"

"Right." the four AVALANCHE members agree.

With that the group splits up to head to the train station. While Tifa is walking, and looking around for Shinra troops, she doesn't notice where she is going and bumps into someone, causing her to fall.

"Hey sorry about that." Tifa says, helping the girl up.

"That's OK." Aerith says. "You wouldn't happen to know what is going on, would you? The entire sector just plunged into darkness."

"I'm not sure." Tifa says, nervously and then notices the flowers. "You don't see too many flowers around here."

"Oh, these?" Aerith asks. "Do you like them? I grow them myself. They're only a gil for a single flower and ten gil for a bouquet."

"I'll take a single one." Tifa says, giving the girl a gil. "You know I'm surprised you can grow flowers in Midgar. I've never seen anyone do it before. I only ever heard of them growing once before."

"Really? From who?" Aerith says as she gives the girl a flower.

Tifa, realizing she may have said too much, thinks of a way out of it and then decides there's no harm.

"From a SOLDIER operative I met a few years ago." Tifa says. "Said his girlfriend lived in Sector Five of Midgar and grew the prettiest flowers you ever saw."

"Zack?" Aerith asks, her eyes going wide in surprise.

'Shit.' Tifa thinks. "Yes, I believe that was his name."

"Do you know what happened to him?" Aerith asks, with both growing hope and dread. "I haven't heard from him in a couple of years now."

"No, I'm sorry. I don't know what happened to him." Tifa says, which was the truth. She didn't remember much of what happened in Nibelheim. Her memory of that time was very foggy. She only remembered bits and pieces. She felt like she ought to tell her all of what she knew, but considering she had just blown up a reactor she didn't think that was a very good idea. "He was only in my town for a day or two to take care of some Shinra business and I only saw him a couple of times in the town's inn and restaurant."

"I see." Aerith says. One of her ancient abilities is the ability to tell when someone is lying to her. She can tell that Tifa is lying and also nervous about something, but is not lying about knowing what has happened to Zack. She starts to think about how to question her some more, when she hears a shout.

"Hey, someone bombed the number 1 reactor!" a man's voice shouts. "They said it's been completely destroyed."

At that Tifa fidgets nervously and looks around as she notices a few Shinra soldiers running towards the site of the reactor. Aerith notices this and puts two and two together.

"The reactor's been bombed?" Aerith asks the man.

"Yeah." the man says. "The weird thing is that whoever did it, apparently didn't want to kill civilians. The blast leveled the building, causing it to implode rather that causing the Mako to explode outwards and take out the surrounding neighborhood. I mean, not that I'm not grateful, but what kind of terrorists try to minimize civilian causalities? You try to maximize them."

"Maybe they just wanted to make a point?" Aerith says. "In any case, I don't think it's safe out right now. I'd better be getting home."

"That's a good idea." the man says, running off.

"You should be getting home too." Aerith says.

"Right I will." Tifa says, as Aerith walks off.

Tifa then notices her watch and curses. She runs towards the train station but is ambushed by three Shinra guards. She quickly dispatches them with a series of punches and kicks, but this alerts more of them, and before she notices it she is surrounded by Shinra troops armed with machine guns. She begins to get worried before she notices she's on a bridge overlooking the train tracks and she can hear a train coming.

"Later, chumps." Tifa says, leaping off of the bridge and on top of the roof of a train, just before it enters the nearby tunnel.

"Stupid woman." the leader of the troops says, running over to the edge of the bridge and not having seen the train . "Killing herself for nothing."

"Unit A, this is Unit C." the man says. "We had one of the terrorists in our sights, but she chose to kill herself rather than surrender."

"She chose to kill herself?" the man asks, in both anger and confusion. "The terrorist was a female? And you let her kill herself before we could interrogate her?"

"Um..." the man says.

"Never mind." the other man says. "Just rendezvous back at headquarters. The president has decided to deploy SOLDIER to take care of these terrorists."

"Yes sir." the man says. "All troops back to HQ."

With that the man looked at the sight where the girl was, wondering what could have caused such a beautiful young woman to such a life of terror and death.


	3. Back at HQ

Tifa enters her bar, called Seventh Heaven, feeling tired and drained. The bombing of the Mako reactor had energized her, but when she thought of how far they had to go, she felt depressed. After all, AVALANCHE only had five members faced against the might of the entire Shinra corporation. Sure they had succeeded tonight, but now Shinra would be on guard.

And that Aerith girl. She had looked so hopeful when she said she had known Zack.

Zack. A man she hadn't thought about in a while. It was Zack who had saved her after Sephiroth went insane. She had seen her into the hands of her mentor, Zangan, who took her to Midgar and then went off to face Sephiroth alone. She had always wondered what had became of Zack.

"Hey, Tifa." Marlene says. "Dad's looking for you. He's been really worried."

"Tifa." Barret yells. "Where the hell you been?"

"Sorry, I got kind of delayed." Tifa says. "I bought you a flower, Marlene."

Tifa hands the flower she bought to Marlene and she looks at it and smiles.

"Look at the flower Tifa bought me?" Marlene asks. "Isn't it pretty?"

"Yeah, it is." Barret says sweetly. "Now you go to bed and be a good girl."

"Yes dad." Marlene says and heads off to her room.

"A flower? You got 'kind of delayed' for a flower?" Barret mutters. "Never mind that, let's go check out the news and plan our next mission."

With that Barret and Tifa get on the secret elevator and ride down to their underground hideout.

"You're just in time for the news." Biggs says as he turns up the sound of the TV.

"This is John Kubble with Shinra news. We have breaking news tonight." the man on the television says. "Tonight a terrorist group has blown up the Sector 1 reactor."

The picture switches to a shot of the rubble of the Sector 1 reactor.

"As you can see it has been completely destroyed." John says. "We now switch live to the president of Shinra."

"My fellow citizens of Midgar, tonight a terrorist organization of unknown intent has launched a major unprovoked attack on the Shinra organization and the citizens of Midgar." the president says. "Using stolen plans obtained from traitors in the Shinra organization they managed to break into the Sector 1 reactor and attempt to cause a catastrophic overload."

"Had they succeeded, they would have caused the reactor to overload destroying all of Sector 1 and killing approximately 1 million innocent people." the president continues.

"What!" Jessie exclaims. "That's a lie! My bomb was never designed to do that."

"Fortunately, after some early experience with these kind of terror tactics all Shinra reactors were equipped with a fail-safe destruct mechanism to cause the reactor to safely implode." the president says calmly. "The brave employees of Shinra Corp activated this device with their last breaths, knowing that it would kill them. Their brave sacrifice saved the citizens of Sector 1 from certain doom."

"In order to protect Midgar from further attacks, I have immediately deployed SOLDIER to protect reactors 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8 from destruction." the president continues. "I have also ordered a 14% reactor increase in each of the remaining six reactors to make up for the destruction of Reactor 1, and the renovation that has shut down Reactor 5. Additionally, all construction work on Reactor 5 is being suspended until the apprehension of these criminals. We will not chance one of these terrorists gaining access to the work crews and have another chance to carry out their deranged goal of murder and mayhem. Be strong. Together the citizens of Midgar can weather the storm by these cowards."

"Power to Sector 1 should be restored by morning." the president continues. "Thank you and goodnight."

With that the TV screen switches back to the newscaster.

"That was President Shinra." the anchor says. "Who in a stunning admission has just said that the terrorists who attacked the Reactor 1 had intended the complete destruction of Sector 1, but quick-thinking and brave sacrifices by the Shinra employees has averted certain disaster."

"God damn!" Barret says as he shoots the TV with his gun arm. "That no good lying piece of bastard. He's saying it was the Shinra who saved all those people."

"I can't believe they would tell these bald-faced lies." Jessie stammers.

"You can't?" Biggs asks. "They're Shinra, remember. Lying is what they do."

"Gotta give them credit though." Wedge says. "This is one of their most creative ever."

"Well they're not going to get away with it." Jessie says. "Next time, I'll release a schematic of my bomb and show those citizens exactly how my bombs safely destroy their reactors."

"Good idea." Tifa says.

"OK, listen up." Barret says. "They're deploying increased security to all the active reactors, but since the Sector 5 reactor is down for repairs, its' empty. We'll be hitting that tomorrow."

"Uh, Barret." Jessie says. "My bomb won't destroy a non-active reactor. It needs the Mako to use as an energy source."

"Ugh!" Barret says.

"They must know that." Tifa says. "Which is why they're not deploying any troops to it."

"Hey, but we could still do some damage, right?" Biggs asks. "We may not be able to completely destroy it, but we can make it that much more difficult to fix."

"Yeah." Wedge says.

"OK, guys. Get some rest. Tomorrow we're hitting reactor 5." Barret replies.

* * *

Elsewhere, at Shinra headquarters a helicopter lands and a SOLDIER operative gets off.

"Cloud Strife?" a Shinra troop asks.

"That's me." Cloud says.

"Right this way." the soldier asks. "The president is waiting for you."

With that, the officer leads Cloud into the building and into the President's office.

"Mr. President, it's been a long time." Cloud says, extending his hand, trying to hide his unease. There was just something about the president that had always made Cloud feel uneasy.

"Yes it has." the president replies, shaking his hand. "How is my son?"

"He's doing well." Cloud says.

"How does he think of me?" the president asks. "Except for business, we haven't talked in quite a while."

"Well he doesn't really talk about you much." Cloud replies.

"In that case, how is his personal life going, does he have a girlfriend?" the President says. "I would ask him myself, but we had a big falling out before I sent him to Wutai."

"I know, he talks about it sometimes." Cloud admits. "How you didn't agree with some of his proposals."

"Well I must admit I was wrong about that." the President says. "Since taking charge of Wutai, their profits have quadrupled and the acts of violence against Shinra have dropped to almost nothing."

"But that isn't the reason you called me here, is it?" Cloud asks. "It has to do with the reactor explosion"

"Yes." the president admits. "I want to set a trap for them. As you know the Sector 5 reactor has been shut down for reconstruction that was due to begin tomorrow, but I have decided to cancel it. Ever since it was shut down, there has been only basic security."

"You believe they're going to strike there next?" Cloud asks.

"Yes." the President answers.

"If I were planning the operation, that wouldn't be the reactor I would hit next." Cloud says. "I would assume it was a trap. Instead, seeing as we had put all our security on guarding the reactors, I would attack Shinra HQ."

With that the President laughs.

"Well, you're not planning the attack." the President replies. "I doubt this group has your training or experience. But in any case you needn't worry, Cloud. HQ is well defended. Just get some rest from your long trip and then head out to wait at the Sector 5 reactor in the morning."

"Yes sir." Cloud says, and turns away.

As soon as he's gone, Heideggar enters the room.

"Gya, ha, ha." Heideggar asks. "Do you think he'll catch them?"

"If they show up, definitely." the President says. "And if not, then we go to plan B."

"Destroying the Sector 7 slums, in which we have determined their base to be located?" Heideggar asks. "Gya, ha, ha. No problem. We'll take out the slums and blame it all on AVALANCHE. Then there'll be no stopping us."

"President, where is the Ancient?" Hojo asks. "You promised me the Ancient."

"Relax Hojo, I've ordered the Turks to pick her up tomorrow." the President says. "But I'm expecting results out of you. I want the secret of immortality, and quick."

"No worries, President." Hojo says smoothly. "Soon the secrets of the Promised Land and eternal life will be yours."

* * *

In the morning Tifa wakes up in her room, and after quickly stretching her legs and taking a shower she goes downstairs to find the entire group waiting for her.

"OK, listen up. Our next target's the Sector 5 Reactor." Barret says. "Head for the station first. I'll fill you in on the train."

With that Wedge and Biggs exit the building and head towards the train station.

"Take care, Marlene." Barret says, taking his daughter into his arms. "Daddy loves you and will be home soon."

"OK, dad." Marlene says. "Good luck at work."

With that Barret smiles sadly and exits.

"Guys, before our next mission, I wanted to give you this." Jessie says, handing a glowing green orb to Tifa.

"Materia." Tifa says.

"I found it in the reactor." Jessie says. "It's Cure. It will heal small wounds like new."

"Thanks Jessie, I'm sure it will come in handy." Tifa says.

"Meet you at the train." Jessie says, exiting the building.

With that Marlene turns to Tifa.

"Tifa, thanks again for the flower." Marlene says. "Can you get more for me sometime? Maybe we could fill the shop with flowers."

"We'll see about that." Tifa says. "See you when I get home."

With that Tifa walks towards the train station, when she is stopped by fellow Nibelheim survivor Johnny.

"Hey Johnny, I'm kind of in a hurry, so can I talk to you later?" Tifa asks.

"Well that's what I wanted to talk to you about." Johnny says. "I'm leaving Midgar."

"What?" Tifa asks, shocked.

"I can't stand it here anymore." Johnny says. "I need to feel the open sky again. Hopefully I'll see you down the road sometime but if not take care."

"When are you leaving?" Tifa asks, saddened to be saying goodbye to her last surviving friend from Nibelheim.

"Right now." Johnny says, pointing to his packed bags.

"Now?" Tifa asks shocked. "But you never said anything!"

"I knew that if I said anything you'd try to talk me out of it and I'd knew you succeed." Johnny says, and then he takes a deep breath. "I've loved you for the longest time, but I know you don't feel the same way."

At his admission Tifa is shocked.

"I know you're in love with your childhood friend Cloud." Johnny says. "I found this article about him the other day, it seems he's quite good friends with Vice President Rufus."

With that, Tifa takes the article in shock and looks at the picture showing Cloud and Rufus playing volleyball in Wutai.

"I can't believe Cloud would be friends with someone from Shinra." Tifa says shocked.

"Don't be too hard on him." Johnny says. "We all believed Shinra's lies at one point. And I doubt he was told the truth about Nibelheim. Not only that but from rumors I've been hearing from trustworthy sources in Wutai, Rufus was sent there in exile because he didn't believe in some of his father's more brutal methods."

"1st Class Soldier." Tifa says quietly. "Looks like he made it after all."

"Well take care." Johnny says as he gets in his car and drives off.

"Tifa, you coming?" Barret calls out.

"Sure thing." Tifa says, putting the article away, following Barret but her heart heavy thinking about Cloud.


	4. Sector 5, Where All Paths Meet

When Tifa and Barret arrive at the train station and board the train, they find Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie waiting for them.

"Yo!" Barret says. "This ain't no private car! So split up!"

At his order, Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge run off into other cars of the train.

"Hoodlums again." a man wearing a suit mutters. "Don't I have all the luck?"

"Did you say something?" Barret asks, going up to the man. "I asked 'you say something?"

As he says this, most of the other passengers exit the train car.

"Yo, look at that!" Barret says. "It got empty all of a sudden."

"It...it's empty because of guys like you." the man says, and then gets scared. "Yipes! You...you've seen the news, right? AVALANCHE has promised more bombings. Only devoted Shinra employees like me would go to work on a day like today."

"You work for Shinra?" Barret asks in a menacing voice.

"I'm not going to give in to violence." the man says. "And I'm not giving you my seat either!"

"Barret!" Tifa exclaims.

"You lucky piece of..." Barret says, walking away.

"You have to control your temper more." Tifa says. "We're trying not be noticed."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Barret apologizes as the train gets under way and the two takes their seats.

"Good morning." the conductor announces. "Welcome to Midgar lines. Arrival time at Sector 4 Station will be 11:45."

The two ride the train in silence until Jessie walks over to them.

"Guys, we have a problem." Jessie says in a quiet voice. "Seems like Shinra has upgraded their security. They've installed a new security checkpoint at the top plate. It's an ID scan system that's checking all the trains. The fake IDs we have won't work."

"What the...?" Barret says. "What's that mean?"

"That means, that once we pass the next security checkpoint, Shinra will have us." Jessie says.

"When are we scheduled to reach the next checkpoint?" Tifa asks.

"In less than two minutes." Jessie says. "I checked, there's an access tunnel to the Sector 5 reactor coming up, just before the checkpoint. We can jump off just before we reach the ID checkpoint."

Suddenly the emergency lights go off.

"That's odd, the security checkpoint was supposed to be further down." Jessie says.

"Type A security alert! Type A security alert!" the conductor announces over the loudspeaker. "Unidentified passengers confirmed. A search of all cars will be conducted."

"We're in trouble." Jessie says. "Quickly to the front of the train."

With that the trio rushes to the front, as the train doors lock behind them.

"All right." Barret asks. "We made it."

"We're not clear yet, they'll be starting a search soon." Jessie says. "We have to jump off."

"Scary...huh?" Wedge asks.

"OK, let's do it." Biggs says and jumps off.

"I'm scared." Wedge says.

"There's no time to be scared." Jessie says. "I'll jump with you, and then grabs his hand. 1...2...3."

And with that the two jump, followed by Tifa and Barret.

"Good, so far everything's going as planned." Barret says.

"That was according to plan?" Tifa asks incredibly. "What plan was that?"

"Never mind, we're here ain't we?" Barret says. "Now come on. The reactor's just down this tunnel. The others already went on ahead and are waiting for us."

With that the Tifa and Barret make their way to the entrance of the reactor, which is guarded by light beam security sensors.

"Damn, looks like this way is a no go." Barret says.

"Look there's an access tunnel." Tifa says, pointing to a shaft.

With that the two enter the tunnel and continue to proceed to the reactor entrance. The two encounter a couple of automated robotic drones, but they are easily dispatched.

Eventually they meet up with Wedge.

"Everything's ready, sir." Wedge says at the base of the ladder. "Biggs has managed to hack the entrance to the door and Jessie is up ahead with the bomb."

"Good work, Wedge." Barret says. "Now head back to HQ and we'll meet up."

"Right." Wedge says and heads off.

The two then climb up the ladder to find Jessie waiting for them.

"Here's the bomb, Barret." Jessie says. "It will cause enough damage to the reactor that will take them months to fix."

"Good work, Jessie." Barret says.

"Yeah." Jessie says dejectedly.

"What's wrong?" Tifa asks.

"It's my fault we were almost caught." Jessie says. "I made the fake IDs."

"Hey don't worry about it." Barret says. "We couldn't expect those IDs to work forever. The next ones you make will just have to be better."

"Right." Jessie says, cheering up. "I'll get to work on it right away. Biggs is waiting up ahead."

Barret and Tifa continue ahead until they meet up with Biggs.

"We can enter the reactor by going down this tube." Biggs says. "But we can't come back up. To get out, we have to access the security doors. It's a special door that is currently locked. You need to put three keys into three slots to open it. The keys are inside the building, as it was meant to keep people out, not in, but all three need to be turned at once."

"So looks like you're coming with us." Tifa says. "Let's go."

"Ladies first." Biggs says, and Tifa enters the chute, followed by Biggs and Barret. The trio makes their way to the reactor core and set the bomb without incident.

"Set the bomb for twenty-five minutes this time." Barret says. "There's no one that's going to be here to disarm it."

"Right." Biggs says as he punches a couple of buttons. "Bomb set, let's hustle."

The trio then runs off and makes their way to the entrance. They open the door and make it to the outside catwalk with no problem.

"Piece of cake." Biggs says. "They're weren't even any robo-guards!"

"You may have spoke too soon." a man says from behind them and then throws something to Biggs.

"Jessie's bomb!" Biggs exclaims.

"Deactivated." the voice says. "Now in the name of Shinra, you're under arrest for the murder of fifteen Shinra employees, the destruction of the Sector 1 reactor, and the attempted murder of a million people."

"That's a lie." Tifa says and turns around to face their accuser and freezes in shock. "Cloud?"

"Tifa." Cloud asks, so shocked, that he drops the sword he is carrying. "You're in league with these terrorists?"

"You know this guy?" Biggs asks.

"He and I grew up together in Nibelheim." Tifa says.

"Wha...How..?" Cloud asks. "How could you be in league with people who want to kill millions of people?"

"Listen Cloud, I know this is hard for you to accept, but they didn't want to kill anyone." Tifa says. "The bomb we planted wasn't designed to cause a reactor overload, it was designed to implode the reactor just like what happened."

"Tifa, you helped set two bombs against Shinra." Cloud says, picking up his sword. "Why?"

"The Shinra are evil." Tifa says. "They've been performing horrific experiments on humans and they're responsible for the destruction of our hometown."

"What!" Cloud asks shocked. "Nibelheim's been destroyed? When?"

"Five years ago." Tifa answers.

"No, that's impossible." Cloud says. "I was there four years ago for my mother's funeral. She died in an accident in the mountains and her body was never found. It's true a lot of the people I knew had moved, but the town was standing exactly as I remembered it."

"No that's not true." Tifa says. "I've seen the town burnt to the ground. Sephiroth went insane and burnt the town to the ground."

"Tifa, that's a lie." Cloud says, trying to make sense of what he's hearing. "I believe you truly believe this, but these people have obviously brainwashed you somehow, but don't worry, I'm friends with the Vice President. I can help, protect you. But as for you two, you're under arrest."

"Well geese Tifa, it's sure nice to know you have friends in the Shinra, who believe their lies." Biggs says.

Before Cloud can respond, an automated robot comes up to the group.

"Intruders detected." the robot says. "Destroy, destroy."

"Robot, I'm Cloud Strife, SOLDIER 1st class, stand down." Cloud commands the robot.

"Intruders will be destroyed." the robot says and then fires a missile at Cloud, who quickly destroys it with his sword.

"Robot, I am Cloud Strife, SOLDIER 1st class." Cloud says again. "I have the situation in hand, stand down."

"Intruders have failed to be eliminated." the robot drones on. "Proceeding to phase 2 counter-measures."

With that the robot fires a series of laser blasts at the four, causing them to duck for cover.

"I repeat, I am Cloud Strife, SOLDIER 1st class." Cloud commands in his loudest voice. "Stand down immediately!"

"Intruders have still failed to be eliminated." the robot says again. "Proceeding to maximum termination measures."

"Uh, Cloud, I don't think it's listening to you." Tifa says.

"I can see that." Cloud says. "Don't worry, I'll protect you."

"And then arrest me or put me in an institution for being brainwashed?" Tifa asks, angrily.

"Um, you two, can you talk about this after we've defeated the robot that's trying to kill us?" Biggs asks.

"OK." Cloud says. "Don't worry I'll handle this."

With that Cloud leaps into the air with his sword, which is now glowing with energy. He slices the robot in two with ease.

"Problem solved." Cloud says, turning back to the three AVALANCHE members. "Now for the rest of you."

Tifa walks over to him to say something, but before she can begin the robot explodes, knocking a section of the bridge out and knocking Tifa down.

"Tifa!" Cloud, Barret, and Biggs exclaims in unison, and before she can react, Cloud knocks Tifa out of the way just before a second explosion hits her. It knocks into him instead, sending him falling off the bridge and into the slums below.

"Cloud!" Tifa screams as Barret and Biggs look on helplessly.

* * *

Elsewhere, inside the Sector 5 church, which was now looking a lot less run down thanks to the success of her flower-selling, Aerith was tending her massive garden. What had begun as a simple patch of flowers, had now turned into a huge garden, which encompassed both the interior and exterior of the church. She was about to head out for the day to sell flowers, when she heard the door open.

She turned, smiling, thinking it was a customer, only to have her smile vanish. There standing before her, were the entire TURKS crew. Tseng, Reno, Rude, and the new blonde girl she had seen hanging around. Reno and Rude's weapons were drawn. In the blonde's hands is a pair of handcuffs. Tseng looks resolved. A jolt of fear unlike any she had ever known passes through her.

'This is it.' Aerith thinks. 'They've actually come for me this time.'

In panic she grabs a nearby staff, that she had begun training with. She had become somewhat proficient with it, and was a wiz with the materia Zack had left her but she had nowhere near the skills to defend herself against four Turks. She had gotten good enough, to handle one...maybe. But not four. But still she wasn't going without a fight.

"Really Aerith, a staff?" Tseng says. "You and I both know that you're no good at fighting, so why don't you come with us peacefully?"

"Peacefully, so I can become a lab specimen for Hojo?" Aerith asks. "I think I'll pass."

"Aerith, I give you my word that I'll try to get Hojo to treat you humanely." Tseng says.

"Humanely?" Aerith asks, with an uncharacteristic bitter laugh. "You forget I know Hojo, my mother... my biological mother that is, she knew what type of man he is. And I'd rather die then end up in one of his sick experiments designed to exploit the planet."

"Now listen here girlie, you're coming with us." Elena says.

With that Rude and Reno go to her sides and Elena walks forward with her handcuffs. Seizing the opportunity, Aerith hits Elena in the face with her staff, causing her to fall to the ground in pain. She then lets lose with a burst of fire materia at the other two, but they are prepared and block it with M-Barrier.

Tseng rushes over to Elena and casts a Curaga spell on her, to heal her wounds. Meanwhile Reno whips out his electric cane and prepares to use in on Aerith.

"I really wish you had come peacefully." Tseng says. "But if it has to be force, so be it. Reno, you have permission to use force, but use the minimum amount of voltage necessary."

Aerith grips her staff tightly as Reno approaches her, and in panic she yells out. "Help!"

Outside the church, Zack had just pulled up on a motorcycle he had borrowed from a guy he once helped out in Kalm when he heard Aerith's shout. He quickly notices the Turks' helicopter and curses.

"Looks like I got here just in time." Zack says, drawing his Buster Sword and rushing into the building. He quickly takes in the scene, seeing Aerith with a staff drawn, facing down two Turks with weapons drawn.

"Aerith!" Zack exclaims, rushing into battle and quickly taking out Reno and Rude.

"Are you OK?" Zack asks.

"Zack?" Aerith asks, in shock. "Is it really you?"

"It's really me." Zack says, taking in her beauty for the first time in over four years. "I've been gone for longer than I expected, but I'm back now and I'm not going anywhere."

"Zack, what an unexpected surprise." Tseng says. "I thought you were dead."

"Not quite." Zack says. "I was an extended guest in one of Hojo's laboratories.

"Hojo's labori..." Tseng begins to say, in shock. "You're the one he was experimenting on in Nibelheim! He told me you were killed."

"Experimenting on?" Aerith asks in horror. "That's where you've been all this time, being a lab rat for Hojo?"

"Yes." Zack says, a hard-edge in his voice she had never heard before. "And I'll be damned if I'll let you hand deliver her to that monster."

"Zack, you don't understand, what we're trying to accomplish." Tseng says.

"Oh, I understand everything perfectly." Zack says. "Aerith is the last surviving ancient and you want to use her powers to find the Promised Land and gain immortality."

"How did you know that...?" Aerith asks. "I never told you."

"Cissnei let a few things slip." Zack says. "And I managed to find some of Hojo's notes during my escape from his lab."

"You don't think less of me?" Aerith asks, nervously.

"Think less of you?" Zack asks, shocked that she would even ask such a thing. "How can you ask that of me? Why would I think any less of you because you're an Ancient. I love you."

"You love me?" Aerith asks, clearly shocked.

"Of course I do." Zack says. "It was your smile that kept me sane during those four long years of torture." He then turns to Tseng. "And if you think, I'm going to let you subject her to that same horror, you are sadly mistaken."

"Now listen here." Tseng says as he walks over to them. "Aerith is coming with..."

Before he could finish there is a loud crash from above and a body lands on Tseng, knocking him unconscious.

"Ugh." the man who lands on Tseng says.

"Cloud?" Zack asks in shock, going over to him. "Is that you?"

"Zack?" Cloud asks, trying to refocus his eyes. "And an angel? Am I dead, have you come to guide me to the afterlife?"

"Um, no." Zack answers. "Where did you come from?"

"The Sector 5 reactor." Cloud answers. "I was trying to apprehend a terrorist group, when an out of control robot attacked me. I defeated the robot and then got knocked off the bridge while saving Tifa."

"Tifa!" Zack and Aerith exclaims.

"Tifa from Nibelheim?" Zack asks.

"You two know Tifa?" Cloud asks, surprised.

"Yeah, I met her during my last mission." Zack answers. "She was the guide to the Mako reactor. How do you know her?"

"I sold her a flower in Sector 8, the other day." Aerith answers. "And she mentioned she knew you, I tried to pressure her for more information, but considering she just blew up the Number 1 Reactor, she was in a bit of a hurry."

"Wait a minute." Zack asks. "She blew up a reactor? I knew she hated Shinra for destroying her town, but she actually destroyed a reactor! How many were killed?"

"Only the Shinra employees." Aerith answers. "The explosion was either contained by a Shinra fail-safe device or the bomb was specially designed to prevent damage to the town."

"Wait a minute, Shinra really did destroy Nibelheim?" Cloud asks. "But that's impossible. I've been there since she said it was destroyed."

"It was rebuilt and populated with Shinra employees." Zack answers. "And Sephiroth wasn't acting on orders when he destroyed it, he kind of went insane and wanted to take over the planet with a two-thousand year corpse."

"But why...why would Shinra lie to me?" Cloud asks, unable to deny what both Zack and Tifa had told him as the truth. The two of them were his closest friends.

"I'm sorry to say, Shinra is evil." Zack says, trying to handle the revelation as gently as possible. He knew from experience, learning everything you believed in was a lie is difficult at best. "They've kept me locked in a lab for four years, torturing me with painful experiments."

Zack then proceeds to tell Cloud the whole story of what he had learned.

"Uh, I hate to bring this up, but I think we should leave." Aerith says, pointing to the Turks, who are beginning to stir.

"Why are there unconscious Turks here?" Cloud asks, feeling dazed and confused at all that had happened in the last hour and trying desperately to hold on to his grip of reality.

"They're here to kidnap Aerith because Hojo wants to use her as a research subject in one of his twisted experiments." Zack answers.

"What?" Cloud asks.

"Listen, we need to go." Zack says, going to tie up the Turks. "This won't hold them for long, but it should buy us some time to get away. Cloud, what are you going to do?"

"I'm going back to Wutai." Cloud says. "I need answers to all of this, and if there all any Rufus may have some. He was sent away because his father disagreed with some of his ideas, so hopefully that means he doesn't know of any of the horrific things his father has done. And if he has..."

He doesn't elaborate on what would happen if Rufus had been playing him, he doesn't need to.

"My mother." Aerith says. "We need to get to my mother."

"Right." Zack says.

"Will the two of you be OK?" Cloud asks. "I could stay with you if you need me to."

"No we'll be fine." Zack says.

"OK, but here's my cell number." Cloud says, handing him a piece of paper. "If you need anything don't hesitate to call."

"Thanks, buddy." Zack says, grabbing his hand. "It's been good seeing you again."

"Same here." Cloud says, and then leaves through the door.

"Alone at last." Zack says.

"Ugh." Elena says.

"Not counting our unwelcome guests." Aerith says. "We really should be going."

"There's something I want to do first." Zack says, drawing closer to Aerith's lips. "If I may?"

"Go ahead." Aerith replies, breathlessly.

With that Zack takes Aerith into her arms and kisses her passionately. The two remained kissing, pouring all of their feelings for one another into that one kiss. The two kissed for several minutes, until they have to break apart gasping for air.

"Wow." Aerith says. "That was intense."

"Yeah, it was." Zack says. "It was even better than I imagined it in my dreams."

"You dreamed of it?" Aerith asks.

"Every night, in that horrible place." Zack says. "You were the only thing that kept me sane."

"Oh, how sweet." Elena says. "But if you think things were bad for you before, just wait until we get out of here."

"We really need to go." Zack says, pulling out a green materia orb. "But first we should put them to sleep."

With that Zack fires a beam of energy at the four Turks, causing Elena and the other four to fall into a deep sleep.

"There, now they should be out for about eight hours." Zack says, grabbing Aerith's hand. "Now let's go."

"Right." Aerith says, truly and completely happy for the first time in a long while. While it may be true that the Shinra was finally after her in full force, she had her love back, and for the first time in her life, a feeling that everything was going to work out OK.


	5. To Aerith's House

Aerith walks to her house with his hand in hers, while Zack entertains her with stories of how inexperienced Cloud was when Zack first met him. He told her, how he got so sick on a helicopter ride to Junon, he couldn't eat for two days. But he had stuck to his guns, worked hard, and had gotten accepted in SOLDIER. The two of them agreed to have a celebration drink when he got back from basic training, and Zack returned from his mission in Nibelheim.

Nibelheim. And that's when he went quiet. She knew that they had to talk about it eventually, so it may as well be now.

"Zack, if you want to talk about it, I'm here for you." Aerith says.

"Thanks." Zack says. "It's just difficult. Genesis. Angeal. Sephiroth. They were all good people, loyal SOLDIER members who fought to protect Shinra and they regarded them as nothing more than lab rats."

"I know the feeling." Aerith says. "My mother was a good kind person who offered to help Shinra. Professor Gast, my father, was assigned to her. But when he realized what Shinra wanted to do her, he helped my mother escape. Eventually they fell in love and got married."

Aerith then takes a pause and tries to stop the tears from coming.

"I was only a baby at the time, barely two months old when Hojo managed to find my parents." Aerith says. "My father sacrificed himself so that my mother could get away with me. She managed to flee the Shinra for four years, but eventually the Shinra caught up with her, and an overzealous soldier shot her."

Zack stops and wraps his arms around Aerith as she starts crying.

"She managed to make it to Midgar and died in the Sector 7 train station." Aerith says. "With her last breath, she gave me to my adopted mother Elmyra and asked her to raise me as her own."

At this Zack is speechless.

"I never knew." Zack says. "I had no idea you were adopted."

"It's OK." Aerith says, beginning to walk again. "I still hear my mother sometimes. She has returned to the planet."

"Returned to the planet?" Zack asks.

"Yes, when a person dies, their soul returns to the Lifestream of the planet." Aerith says. "As an Ancient I can hear the voices in the Lifestream, but it's difficult in Midgar, because of the reactors."

"I see." Zack says, trying to absorb it.

"You don't believe me." Aerith says, resigned. "No one ever does, which is why I don't talk about it much.

"No, no, no, that's not it at all." Zack says, stopping her and pulling her to face him. "It's just a lot to take in, but I absolutely believe you."

"You do, don't you?" Aerith asks, in surprise. "I can tell, I know when people are lying."

"Wait, you can tell when people are lying?" Zack says and then gulps. "I'm in trouble, aren't I? I won't ever be able to lie my way out of forgetting an anniversary or a birthday, will I?"

"Nope." Aerith says, smiling. "But you're not the forgetful type, now are you?"

"No." Zack says, smiling. "You're going to be absolutely spoiled on your birthday, and our anniversaries."

"Anniversaries?" Aerith asks.

"So there's the anniversary of our first meeting, our first date, the first time we sold follows together, our first kiss." Zack lists off. "And then there's all our future anniversaries we haven't had yet."

"You mean like our wedding anniversary?" Aerith asks sweetly.

"Um, yeah." Zack says nervously. "But I think maybe we should hold off on that one for a while. I already have the Turks and the Shinra army out to get me, I don't need your mother on my list too."

As he says this, he hears a laugh from behind him. "You face down Sephiroth, Genesis, and the entire Shinra army with no fear and yet you're terrified of one middle-aged woman."

With that, Zack spins around to find Cissnei standing behind them. She's not wearing her usual Turks suit, and is instead wearing a brown coat with a mini-skirt. She's smiling, but her smile immediately vanishes when Zack draws his sword and puts it to her throat.

"Zack, what are you doing?" Aerith asks. "Drawing your sword on this young woman."

"Aerith, this is Cissnei." Zack says. "She's a Turk."

"A Turk?" Aerith asks, afraid.

"I won't let you take Aerith." Zack says.

"Calm down, Zack." Cissnei says. "I'm not here to harm you. I've quit Shinra and was on my way to help Aerith."

"She's telling the truth, Zack." Aerith says.

With that Zack puts away his sword.

"Sorry about that." Zack says, and then freezes in shock. "You quit the Shinra? Why?"

"As you know, I was raised in Shinra." Cissnei says. "I never knew my real family, never had a home of my own. Until I joined the Turks, I always considered everyone I met as a potential rival."

"Then I met you." Cissnei says. "I saw how you treated me, and how you treated you comrades. You treated them as equals, as friends. You gave your all to Shinra, and Shinra turned around and stuck you in a lab to be used for horrific experiments. They treat their employees like crap, and when they get to be inconvenient they declare them dead and try to kill them."

Cissnei then takes a deep breath, before continuing. "I know that if I say with Shinra, I'll never be anything more than a lapdog, and I realize I want more than that. So I'm here to help."

"Wow, Zack." Aerith says. "Looks like you really have an effect on people."

"Are you absolutely certain you want to do this Cissnei.?" Zack asks. "If you help us, you'll be a wanted criminal and may end up in one of Hojo's labs yourself."

"I'm sure." Cissnei replies.

"OK, then let's go." Zack says. "We have to get Aerith's mother."

"Right." Cissnei says and continues on with them to Aerith's house. It is located at the end of Sector 5 and has a huge garden in the back of it.

"Wow, nice place." Zack says. "I just realized I've never been here before."

"I have, although I've never been inside." Cissnei says.

"Mom, I'm home." Aerith says as the three enter the living room.

"So early?" Elmyra asks, walking into the living room, and then notices the two people with you. "Oh you brought friends over."

"Yes, mom." Aerith says. "Mom, this is Cissnei and Zack. Cissnei, Za..." which is as far as she gets before Elmyra hits Zack in the face, knocking him to the ground.

"Mom!" Aerith exclaims, running over to Zack and asking if he's OK as he gets up. "What are you doing?"

"This boy is no good." Elmyra says. "He left you pining for him for four and a half years, without a single word or letter."

"He couldn't send word." Cissnei says. "He was heavily injured during one of his missions, and one of Shinra's scientists decided instead of getting him medical treatment, he would declare Zack dead and use him for one of his twisted experiments instead."

"What?" Elmyra asks in shock. "Shinra used you as a lab specimen? I knew they were twisted, but using their own employees is low... even for them."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Zack says. "And that's not even the half of it. I came here as soon as I settled a few things with my old friends."

"Wait, you said you just escaped from a Shinra lab?" Elmyra asks. "And you think this was a good idea, coming here with Shinra chasing after you?"

"Well ordinarily I wouldn't." Zack says. "But Professor Hojo was my kind and gracious host. And when escaping from his lab, I found some notes on what he intended to do with Aerith. Let's just say if I ever see him again, Shinra will be short one mad scientist."

"I see." Elmyra asks. "What exactly do you know about Aerith?"

"I know that's she the last surviving Ancient or Cetra. And that her birth parents died to protect her." Zack says. "And I also know she has special powers the Shinra are after, because they think they can use their powers to find someplace called the Promised Land and gain eternal life."

"And it doesn't change your feelings about her?" Elmyra asks. "Or tempts you to attempt to use her powers for her own gain?"

"No." Zack says.

"I believe you." Elmyra says, letting out a sigh. "I'm sorry I hit you, we didn't exactly get off on the right foot. Aerith has never had a normal childhood because of the Turks watching her all the time. And you're the first boy Aerith has ever really been interested in. I could tell that she really cared for you, and when you left and never responded to any of her messages, I thought you were playing her. I hope you can forget about me hitting you and that we can put this incident behind us and become friends."

"Of course, consider it forgotten." Zack says smiling, but then pauses and turns to Aerith. "Messages? You sent me messages?"

"Eighty-seven messages." Cissnei says, producing a pack of envelopes. "She gave them to Tseng to give to you. Tseng tried telling her you were dead, but Aerith was insistent that you weren't, that she would know. Given Aerith's special powers, he believed her and thought you would eventually turn up. I swiped them from Tseng's office intending to give them to you, when I left my letter of resignation."

"You worked for Shinra?" Elmyra asks. "What did you do?"

"I was a Turk." Cissnei says. "But recently, I've come to question my bosses' treatment of their fellow employees as well as some of their practices."

"I see." Elmyra asks, and then turns to Aerith. "Do you trust her intentions?"

"I do." Aerith replies.

"A former SOLDIER for a boyfriend, and a former Turk for a friend." Elmyra says in incredulity. "Boy it's been an interesting day."

She then turns to Zack. "Again, I'm sorry for hitting you. But I thought SOLDIER, was supposed to have enhanced reflexes? Can't be so tough if I can take you down?"

"I do have enhanced skills." Zack says. "It's just that I don't think hitting my girlfriend's mother when I first meet her would win my any points with either of you."

With that Elmyra laughs. "You know, I think I just may grow to like you."

"Um, excuse me." Cissnei says. "I hate to rush you, but I think we've already stayed too long and we really should be going."

"So soon, why don't you at least stay for tea?" Elmyra asks.

"No, she means we all have to leave." Aerith says, taking a breath before continuing. "Mom, the Turks came for me today. Hojo thinks I'm ready for his experiments. If Zack hadn't shown up when he had, I'd be on my way to a Shinra lab right now."

"What?" Elmyra asks in horror.

"The three head Turks and their new recruit came to get me at the church." Aerith says. "Zack showed up just in time to knock them out."

"They hired a replacement for me already?" Cissnei asks, shocked and a bit hurt, she had only left last week. Just another reason why she should leave, they never really valued her a person, just an asset to the company.

"So, do you have any idea on where we're going to go?" Elmyra asks.

At her question, the three look at each other silently.

"You don't do you?" Elmyra asks.

"Well I just escaped from prison." Zack says. "I don't exactly have an address or any money."

"And all the places I have access to are Turk hideouts." Cissnei says.

"Well there's Cloud." Zack says. "But, while I don't think he'd betray us, he still works for Shinra."

"Wait, what about Tifa?" Aerith asks.

"Tifa?" Zack asks.

"Who's Tifa?" Elmyra and Cissnei ask in unison.

"She's was the guide who showed me to the Nibelheim reactor." Zack says. "Aerith ran into her the other day. She belongs to the anti-Shinra group who blew up the number one reactor."

"You want to hide out with a group of terrorists who blew up a reactor?" Elmyra asks.

"Well, it's not like we have a lot of choices. And they are anti-Shinra at any rate." Zack says. "They may be willing to help us out, but we really have no idea where to find this girl."

"Their base is in the Sector 7 slums." Cissnei says. "I'm not sure where, but we can't stay there. Shinra is closing in on them fast, and from what I learned they don't plan on taking prisoners."

"What?" Zack asks. "We've got to help them."

"Why?" Elmyra asks. "I mean they're anti-Shinra and all, and according to a flyer they released they didn't intend for the reactor to kill all those people."

"Well Tifa is my best friend's, sort of girlfriend." Zack replies.

"Sort of girlfriend?" Elmyra asks.

"Well from what I've learned, he's in love with her but hasn't found the courage to tell her about it." Zack says. "I can't just let her be killed."

"Well then we'll have to find her and warn her." Elmyra says. "After that, I suppose it would be best if we left Midgar."

"Maybe we could hide it in Cosmo Canyon." Cissnei suggests. "There's not a lot of Mako there and Shinra has never really shown much of an interest there, so they don't have that many resources up there."

"Good suggestion but first we have to find this Tifa person." Elmyra says.

"Well let's to Sector 7 first." Cissnei says. "With luck, we may be able to find them before Shinra."

"Yeah, especially with the Turk leadership tied up at Aerith's church." Zack says.

"Do I want to know?" Elmyra asks.

"Probably not." Zack, Aerith, and Cissnei reply in unison.


	6. The Don of Wall Market

Aerith walks out of her house she had lived in most of her life with a heavy heart, it is quite possible that she will never see it again. The group is carrying several bags, containing whatever travel food they could find, as well as some extra clothes for Aerith and Elmyra. Aerith said Cissnei could borrow some of her things if needed, but Zack would have to make due with what he had until they could go shopping. Aerith also has all the gil she had mad selling her flowers.

"You OK, Aerith?" her mother asks.

"I'm not sure." Aerith sighs. "I mean, I've finally been reunited with my boyfriend, but now am being forced to leave my home, and I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to stop running."

"Don't worry, Aerith." Zack reassures her. "I don't know how or when, but one day we'll be free of Shinra. They've hurt too many people, and in the end they'll get their due. I'm certain of it."

With that Aerith searches Zack's face, and finds honesty there. "OK." she says, cheering up. "If you believe it, so will I."

"Well I hope you're right." Cissnei says. "I don't particular fancy ending up in a lab."

"So what's the best way to get to Sector 7?" Zack asks. "I doubt using the train is an option."

"Well the quickest way is to go through the park in Sector 5 to get to Wall Market in Sector 6, then we can pass through the Train Graveyard into Sector 7." Cissnei says.

"OK, let's go." Zack says as the group heads off. But before they can get far, a young man of about seventeen runs up to them.

"Hey Zack, long time no see." the man says.

"Do I know you?" Zack asks.

"It's me, Sam." the teenager replies. "Don't you remember me? I'm the one who stole you're wallet five years ago."

"Oh, that's right." Zack says, looking him over. "Boy, you've grown. I hope you haven't been stealing anymore."

"No, I haven't." Sam says. "I've been training hard, to be more like you."

"Thanks." Zack says.

"At first I wanted to join SOLDIER to be like you." Sam says.

"I don't really think that's a good idea." Zack says quickly, not wanting to subject the young man to what he went through.

"Yeah, my mom said the same thing." Sam says. "So I've decided to become a mountain rescuer. My mom is sending me up to live with my grandpa in Icicle Inn."

"Icicle Inn?" Aerith asks.

"Yeah." Sam says. "They say they have open skies there and lots of snow. And it's very cold. I'm leaving next week."

"That's great." Aerith says. "I hope you'll like it up there."

"Well I have to get going." Sam says. "I have a lot to do before I leave, but it's been good seeing you again."

He then whispers something into Aerith's ear and runs off, leaving Aerith blushing.

"What did he say?" Elmyra asks, curious.

"He said to be sure to invite him to our wedding." Aerith says.

"You two go on ahead." Elmyra says. "Aerith and I just want to take a last look at our home."

"I don't think..." Zack begins to protest, but is interrupted when Cissnei grabs him by the arm.

"She means she wants to speak to Aerith alone for a minute." Cissnei says dragging him away.

"Oh, OK." Zack says, letting himself be pulled away. "We'll just be over here."

As soon as the two are out of earshot Elmyra turns to Aerith.

"Aerith I know we haven't talked about this much, but you've grown into a beautiful woman." Elmyra says. "What I want to know is what your feelings towards Zack are. Do you think you want to marry him one day?"

"Yes." Aerith says without hesitation. "Shinra may be evil, but he is a good man. He truly believed that being in SOLDIER would protect people. Remember what Sam said about stealing his wallet?"

"Yes." Elmyra answers, not sure where Aerith was going with this.

"Well he stole it because a monster ate his wallet and he needed to buy medicine for his sick mom." Aerith answers. "When Sam explained the situation to him, Zack offered to buy the medicine for her, and when he learned he didn't have enough money for it, Zack went out, killed the monster and retrieved Sam's wallet."

"I see." Elmyra says.

"I didn't know he was SOLDIER then, and when I learned he was I was kind of shocked." Aerith answers. "I always assumed SOLDIER was full of people who liked fighting all the time. But Zack isn't like that at all, he's kind, sweet, funny, and brave. A member of SOLDIER as I had imagined them wouldn't have cared at all, he would have arrested Sam for stealing his wallet without even hearing his side of the story."

"Hmm." Elmyra says thoughtfully. "You really love him, don't you?"

"I do." Aerith says.

"Well, while a member of SOLDIER isn't what a would have chosen for you, from what you described he is a kind and decent man." Elmyra says. "My husband was a good man too. He was in the Shinra army and fought and died to protect his homeland back when everyone believed Shinra wasn't the evil corporation that it turned out to be. I want you to know, you have my blessing to date him."

"Really?" Aerith asks, knowing how hard it was for her to let go of her.

"Yes." Elmyra answers. "But don't think about getting married just yet. I want to get to know him better and I want it to be a long courtship."

"Yes mother." Aerith laughs, her heart light and free.

"Are you two done with the heart to heart yet?" Cissnei asks. "We are being chased by Shinra after all."

"We're done." Elmyra says, as the two run up to join them.

* * *

About an hour later, the two had reached the park where Aerith had played as a child.

"Well here we are." Aerith says. "Just past this park is the gate leading to Wall Market."

"This place looks nicer than it did when I was here last." Zack comments, looking around, trying to determine what is different. "It's the flowers."

Zack looks around and sees that the park is now filled with bushes and beds full of flowers, making it look very nice.

"Do you like it?" Aerith asks. "I did it myself."

"It's beautiful." Zack says.

"Yes, Aerith has become quite a business woman." Elmyra says. "She's gone into the flower-selling business. She's been doing exceptionally well saving up a lot of gil."

"It was actually Zack's idea that I sell flowers." Aerith says. "He called it Operation: Midgar Full of Flowers, Wallet Full of Money. He said I could sell my flowers to brighten up Midgar and make a lot of money at the same time."

"So I take it, it's been a success?" Zack asks.

"Yes it has." Elmyra answers. "I checked her finances the other day, and with the money she earned, along with the way she invested it, she now has over 100,000 gil."

"Really?" Zack and Cissnei asks shocked.

"Yep." Aerith says, opening a case filled with the gil.

"Wow, I never knew you would make that much." Zack says in awe. "It looks like my idea was a really good one."

"Yes, it was a good idea." Cissnei says. "Although the name could have used work. But why do you have all of that cash on you? It's not really a good idea, someone could rob you."

"I have it because I had a feeling the Turks would be coming after me soon and I would need the money for a quick get-away." Aerith says. "And it turns out to have been the case."

"But weren't you scared of being robbed?" Zack asks.

"With the Turks monitoring me 24/7?" Aerith asks. "They wouldn't let a criminal get within a mile of me. Their job was to make sure no harm came to me."

"At least not until Hojo wanted to experiment on you." Cissnei says bitterly, turning to Zack. "How do you do it? How do you go on with your life after learning everything you believed in was a lie?"

"Simple, everything I believed in wasn't a lie." Zack says. "The people I worked for lied to me, but not everyone in the company were evil. The majority of their employees were decent people, who were being lied to as well. It was only a small minority in the leadership that were truly evil. The things I believe in, like honor and protecting others are still true. I can still hold on to that, even without the Shinra."

"I see." Cissnei says, absorbing what he has said.

As she is thinking, a large gate opens and a coach being driven by two Chocobos drives by heading towards Wall Market.

"Look Zack." Aerith says, excitedly. "A chocobo-driven carriage! You don't see too many of those around anymore."

"No you don't." Zack says, watching it go by. As he does, he notices a woman wearing a blue dress, sitting on the back of the cart. When she makes eye contact with him, his eyes widen in surprise. "Tifa."

Before he can say anything else, the cart is out of eyesight.

"Was that Tifa?" Aerith asks.

"It was." Zack says.

"Hmm, if it was Tifa, she's in trouble." Cissnei says. "That cart belongs to Don Corneo, a big time criminal in Wall Market. The Turks use him for some of their shadier jobs."

"Why's Tifa mixed up with a guy like that for?" Elmyra asks.

"Well she is in AVALANCHE." Zack says. "Maybe she's working undercover trying to get some information through him."

"So what do you suggest we do?" Aerith asks.

"We have to try to get in to see her." Zack says. "Maybe you can pretend that you're still with the Turks. It's risky, but he may not have heard about your resignation yet."

"Won't work." Cissnei says, shaking her heads. "How should I put this? The Don doesn't exactly have the highest respect for women, so I've never actually met him."

"I see." Zack says. "Do you at least know where he lives?"

"Of course." Cissnei says. "But I think that maybe Elmyra and Aerith should wait at the inn, while we go his place.."

"No, I want to go." Aerith says.

"Aerith, you don't know what kind of man he is." Cissnei says.

"I have an idea." Aerith says. "I grew up in the slums, I'm not naive."

"Aerith..." Zack says. "I don't want you to be in danger."

"I'm being chased by the Turks at the direction of Shinra's chief mad scientist." Aerith says. "For most of my life I've lived in constant fear of being caught by them. And today for one terrifying minute before you showed up, I thought they would have me. I can be brave, but only if you're by my side."

At this Zack looks at Aerith, suddenly realizing that part of her reluctance to let him go by himself, is the fear that something will happen to him and he won't be able to return to her and she'll be left alone again. Elmyra's mother seems to realize this too.

"Zack, if Aerith wants to do this, then she should." Elmyra says, and at Zack's nod she turns to depart. "I think I'll grab a bite to eat and then meet you at the inn when you're done."

"Are you sure?" Zack asks Aerith one more time after Elmyra leaves.

"I am." Aerith says.

"Well then let's go." Cissnei says.

The three then make their way over to the Don Corneo's mansion, where they are greeted by two guards.

"Hey, hey, what do we have here?" the first guard asks, leering at Aerith and Cissnei. "Some new talent for the Don?"

Zack instinctively reaches for his sword, but Aerith stops him as Cissnei walks up to her.

"We're here to see the Don." Cissnei says. "Can you let us in?"

"Well I can let you two lovely ladies through." the second guard says. "But the guy is out of luck."

"Hold on one minute." Zack says, taking Cissnei and Aerith out of the guards' earshot.

"What do you think?" Aerith asks.

"It looks like they aren't going to let me in." Zack says. "I could bust up the place, but I don't want to mess up whatever Tifa is trying to accomplish."

"You can always let Aerith and I go in alone." Cissnei says. "Or I could go solo, I am a former Turk, so I can handle myself."

"Yeah, but Tifa doesn't know you." Zack points out. "And she only met Aerith once. I'm the one that needs to talk to her."

"Well you can't get in there unless you can magically transform yourself into a woman." Cissnei says.

At this Aerith laughs. "I have an idea." she then turns to the guard and shouts. "We'll be back in a little while, I have another pretty friend I want to bring."

"OK." the guard says. "We'll be waiting."

"Another friend?" Zack asks in shock. "You want to bring your mother to a place like this?"

"No, of course not." Aerith says. "I meant you, once we get you the proper clothes."

"Me?" Zack asks. "When I get the proper clothes?"

Cissnei laughs when she realizes what Aerith's plan is, while Zack's face turn to horror.

"No. No. No." Zack says.

"It's the only way." Aerith says, smiling sweetly. "And didn't you say you'd do anything to protect me?"

"I meant fighting the Shinra army, defending you against Turks, throwing myself in front of an assassin's dagger, things like that. Not dressing up like a girl." Zack protests.

"An assassin's dagger?" Aerith asks, amused. "I don't have any assassins after me, just insane scientists. And if you don't want to do it, Cissnei and I could just go by ourselves."

At this Zack sighs. "There's no way out of this, is there?"

"Nope." Aerith replies.

"I don't think so." Cissnei says.

Zack slumps his shoulders in defeat. "OK let's do it, but not a word of this to your mother."

At this Aerith laughs. "Agreed."


	7. The Not So Perfect Disguise

Twenty minutes after their conversation outside the Don's mansion, Zack, Aerith, and Cissnei find themselves standing inside a dress shop, arguing with the sales clerk on duty.

"Listen, I just want to buy three dresses." Aerith says, with an aggravated sigh. "What's the problem?"

"Well if you must know, it's my father." the woman says. "Lately he's been in a slump, and has been unable to come up with any dress designs. Right now he's in the bar up the street drinking himself silly. With him gone, I've been having to do double duty."

"So what does that have to do with us not being able to buy some dresses?" Zack asks.

"Ugh, don't you know anything about woman's fashion?" Cissnei asks.

"Um, no." Zack answers.

"Well you see, before we can sell you a dress, final alterations have to be made so the dress will fit you." the woman says. "And with the backlog I have now, it will be three days before I have a moment to finish them. You can select the dresses you want, and I'll do the alterations as soon as I can."

"Three days?" Zack asks. "We don't have three days! Can't we take the dresses without alterations?"

"You really don't know anything about woman's clothes, do you?" Cissnei asks. "We need to make a good impression on Do... the guy we're going to see. We can't go in with clothes that don't fit right, it would look suspicious."

"Well then, there's only one thing to do." Zack says. "We'll have to find this girl's father and convince him to come back to work."

"Really?" the girl asks in surprise. "You'd do that for me?"

"Well if we don't help, we don't get our dresses, do we?" Aerith asks.

"Thanks." the girl says. "And I thought there were no kind people left in the world."

"That's us, always willing to lend a hand." Zack says, cheerfully. "Now, how will we recognize your father?"

"Here's a photograph of him." the girl says, handing her a photo of the man. "Please bring my dad back here. If you do, I'll put your dresses at the top of the list."

'Thanks." Zack says. "Let's go."

The three exit the bar and head down towards the bar.

"So, any ideas on how you expect to convince her father to come back to work?" Cissnei asks as they continue to walk.

"Not a one." Zack says, as they reach the bar. "Let's just find the guy and see how bad off he is."

The trio enter the bar and start to look around.

"He's over there." Cissnei says, pointing to him, sitting at the bar.

"Excuse me, are you the father of the girl at the clothing store?" Aerith asks.

"I own the clothing store." the man says. "But I ain't your father."

"I never said you were." Aerith says.

"We're here because the three of us need some clothes." Zack says.

"First of all, I don't make men's clothes." the man replies. "And second of all, I'm not in the mood to make any clothes right now."

"Zack, Cissnei, could you two wait over there? I'll try to talk to him." Aerith asks. The two nod and head off a bit, and Aerith turns back to the man. "You know, my friend over there said that just once he wanted to dress up like a girl. So that's why I wanted a cute dress for him."

"What a cute guy like that?" the owner asks, looking Zack over. "Hmm, you know, I may be able to help you after all."

"Really?" Aerith asks hopefully.

"Yes, I think I've got my inspiration back." the owner says. "In fact, this could be the start of a whole new market of dresses for me. So, are you interested in something that feels clean or something that feels soft?"

"Um, something that feels soft." Aerith answers.

"And something that's shiny or something that shimmers?" the owner asks.

"Something that shimmers." Aerith replies.

"OK, I have just the thing." the owner says. "Meet me back in my shop in five minutes, and I'll make the alterations. Waitress, check."

"Well we got the dress." Aerith says, turning back to her companions.

"Really, what did you say to them?" Cissnei says.

"Nothing much, just that Zack wanted to dress up in a pretty dress, just once." Aerith says.

"What?" Zack asks, almost squeaking.

Cissnei breaks out laughing at Zack's discomfort. "You know Aerith, I think I may have misjudged you. I didn't think you'd be able to handle a SOLDIER as a boyfriend, but you appear to be doing just fine."

"Thanks." Aerith says, smiling back at her.

"Come on Zack, let's hurry up and pick up that dress." Cissnei says.

"How did I get myself in this mess?" Zack asks.

* * *

Half an hour later, Zack, Aerith, and Cissnei are standing in the dress shop, wearing their new dresses. Zack was wearing a simple but elegant blue dress, while Aerith had opted for red and Cissnei for green. The owner had managed to alter their dresses to fit the three of them, and had even managed to hide Zack's Buster Sword and Cissnei's Shuriken underneath them. Aerith's staff, however, was too big and couldn't fit underneath the dress.

"It's no good." the shop owner says. "The staff won't fit underneath your dress."

"You could just leave it." Zack suggests. "You have me to protect you now."

"I know that." Aerith says. "I also know that I'm nowhere as near as good as you, but I want it so I could help protect you, and I don't like feeling helpless."

"You could leave it outside the house, and retrieve it when we leave." Cissnei suggests.

"Or you could just say it's a walking stick." the owner of the dress shop says.

"That could work." Zack says.

"Although, why you want to be smuggling weapons into a place is something I don't really want to know." the owner says. "But to complete your disguise, you may need a wig."

"Yeah, I think he does." Cissnei says.

"Do you know where we can get one?" Aerith asks.

"As a matter of fact, I do." the shop owner says. "The gym owner right across from the bar I was at, has one. I've already talked to him."

"OK, let's go." Zack says, then looks down at himself. "But first let's change back into our normal clothes. I don't want to wear this for longer than I have to."

* * *

Ten minutes later, the trio finds themselves in Big Bro's gym. It is mid-afternoon, so the place is pretty busy, filled with people lifting weight, running on treadmills, and doing aerobics. Before they can get very far, a petite looking woman comes up to them.

"Are you the friends of the dress shop owner?" the woman asks.

"That would be us." Zack says. "I'm Zack and this is Aerith and Cissnei. Do you have the wig?"

"I do." the owner says, holding up a box.

"Yeah, we have the wig." a muscular-looking man said, getting up from his machine.

"But do you deserve it?" another man asks.

"Yeah, this is Big Bro's personal wig." a third man adds in. "It can't be taken by just anyone."

"Geese, give me a break." Zack says in frustration. "Can't anything about this plan be easy?"

"What do we have to do to get the wig?" Cissnei asks.

"Urrgh! Big Bro!" the first man says. "The only way you're going to get cuter is if you beat Big Bro."

"OK, fine." Zack says. "I'll beat the Big Bro."

"Oh, no you don't have to beat me." the woman says. "You have to beat one of them."

"Wait, a minute..." Zack says. "Are you the Big Bro?"

"The beautiful Bro, himself." the woman, who is actually the man Big Bro, answers. "Now let's do squats."

"Yeah, the only way to prove yourself worthy of the Bro's wig is to beat me at squats." the first man says. "I'm the number 1 squat champion in all of Midgar."

At this, Zack shakes his head in disbelief. "OK. You're on. We'll see who's the number 1 squatter in all of Midgar."

"Whoever has the most squats in thirty seconds wins." the Big Bro says. "Are you ready or do you need to practice first?"

"I'm ready." Zack says.

"Big Bro's wig is mine." the first man says.

"OK." Big Bro says, pulling out a stopwatch and then points to the second man. "You count, while I time them. Ready...set...go!"

With that Zack and his opponent begins doing squats. The muscular man is fast, but Zack is a bit faster. The two continue doing squats for thirty seconds before Big Bro clicks his stop-watch and haves them stop. The second muscular man then whispers the results into Big Bro's ear.

"OK, looks like Ben has twenty-two squats." Big Bro says. "But Zack has twenty-seven and is the winner."

"All right." Zack says. "Looks like Midgar has a new squat champion."

"I'm a man of my word." Big Bro says, handing Zack the box. "Here's my wig."

"Oh man, I'm so mad." Ben yells. "Big Bro's wig should be mine."

Before Ben can say anything else, Big Bro walks over and punches Ben into the wall. "Don't be upset just because you lost."

"Bro's fists of steel cut to the bone." the second muscular man says, as he goes over to help his friend.

"Now take good care of my wig." Big Bro says.

"We will." Cissnei says, as the three exit the gym.

"OK, so we have the dress and wig." Zack says. "Now we're ready to infiltrate the Don's mansion."

"I don't know." Aerith says. "I still think we're missing something."

"What?" Zack asks. "What else are we missing?"

"I know." Cissnei says. "Your smell."

"My smell?" Zack asks, confused.

"Yes, you smell like a man." Aerith says.

"Um, so?" Zack asks, getting even more confused.

"If you get too close to the Don, you'll never fool him." Cissnei says. "You need to smell more woman like."

"More woman like?" Zack asks. "And how do I do that?"

"Perfume." Aerith says. "You need some perfume."

"Perfume?" Zack asks. "Someone tell me again how I got into this mess?"

* * *

"What do you mean, you don't have any perfume?" Zack asks, frustrated at the way this is going. They had already wasted two hours on this mission, and for all they knew Tifa would be gone by the time they gathered all the items they needed.

"Well we're sold out." the sales clerk says. "We were supposed to get a shipment in today, but it never showed up."

"But even so, you don't have anything?" Zack asks. "Not even a single bottle?"

"Nope, sorry." the sales clerk answers. "Yesterday was Valentine's day and we had a huge run on it."

"Great now what do we do?" Cissnei asks.

"You're looking for a shipment of perfume?" one of the customers in the store asks.

"Yes." Cissnei says.

"Well then you're in for a long wait." the customer says. "I just saw the delivery truck. It's parked outside a restaurant a few blocks down. The delivery man stopped in at Joe's Bar and Grill for a bite to eat, but something didn't agree with him. He's been locked inside the bathroom sick for the last hour."

"Oh man." Zack says.

"Sorry, but it looks like you're out of luck." the sales clerk says.

"Wait a minute." Aerith says. "What did he eat?"

"Sushi, I think." the customer answers.

"Then he needs to take some sodium chlobixodentrate." Aerith says.

"He does?" Zack asks. "How do you know that?"

"Because her mom's a nurse." Cissnei says. "You didn't know that?"

"No." Zack says.

"Well I was going to tell you when I introduced you to her." Aerith says. "And then when you met her today, there were other things on my mind."

"Yeah, I can understand that." Zack says. "Well let's go get that medicine."

"Hey, hold it." the sales clerk says. "Take this coupon. It's for one free item at the pharmacy near Joe's Bar and Grill. It's for a special promotion, but since you're going to the trouble of helping me out and all, I figure you can use it."

"Thanks man." Zack says, taking the coupon. "Let's go."

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, the trio enter Joe's Bar and Grill carry a bottle of sodium chlobixodentrate pills.

"Hello, how may I serve you today?" a waitress asks as she walks up to the three.

"Actually, we're looking for someone." Aerith says. "We've heard a customer of yours had a bad reaction to some sushi and we've brought him some medicine."

"Shh, not so loud." the waitress says. "We have a reputation to uphold. Now follow me."

With that the waitress leads the group to outside a bathroom, where they can hear loud moaning.

"He's in here." the waitress says, and then knocks on the door.

"Go away." the man says. "I told you I'm not coming out."

"Some kind people have brought medicine for you." the waitress says.

"Really?" the man groans. "What is it?"

"Sodium Chlobixodentrate." Aerith answers. "It will help relieve the pressure in your stomach."

"Well, I guess I'll try some." the man says opening the door. "I don't have anything to lose."

The man opens the door and Aerith hands him the bottle of pills.

"Take three pills every four hours for two days and you'll be fine." Aerith instructs the man as she hands him the pills. "Although you may want to consult a doctor just to be on the safe side."

The man consumes the pills and after a minute starts to look better. "Wow, this did the trick. Who did you say you were again?"

"We're customers of the cosmetics store down a few blocks." Zack says. "The owner was waiting for his shipment of perfume and when we heard you were sick we came here to help him out."

"Really?" the man asks. "You went to all that trouble for someone you never met before. And here I thought there were no good people left in Midgar."

"It wasn't really any trouble." Cissnei says.

"No, no, it was." the man says, handing Aerith a bottle. "This is a sample bottle of my finest perfume. You deserve it for what you've done for me. Now I better get going and make that delivery."

The man quickly runs off, leaving Aerith holding the perfume.

"Thanks for your help." the waitress says. "If you hadn't had helped us out we could have lost a lot of customers. We fired the chef that prepared his meal, it turned out he was using expired food again. Oops I shouldn't have said that."

"Don't worry, we won't tell anyone." Zack says.

"This time." Aerith says. "But make sure it doesn't happen again, if a child had eaten that food, they may have died."

"Don't worry, the boss has guaranteed to personally check all food deliveries from now on." the waitress says. "As a token of our appreciation for you not telling the health department, here's a little reward."

With that the waitress hands them a golden tiara.

"It belonged to one of our old waitresses." the waitress says. "She won first place in the Shinra Annual Midgar Beauty Contest and left the tiara she won in the first place qualifying round here for us to remember us by, but the boss wants us to get rid of it because he was secretly in love with her and now she's married to some rich guy in Costa del Sol and..."

"Evelyn!" a woman's voice scolds as another waitress walks over to them. "Don't be telling them all of our business. Now get back to work before Joe finds you here talking about his love life."

"OK, coming." Evelyn replies. "Sorry, I have to go. Have a good day and come again."

Evelyn then rushes back off to a nearby table to wait on them. Zack, Aerith, and Cissnei look at her for a moment, before exiting the shop.

"All right, now for the last item on our list." Aerith says.

"What? There's more?" Zack asks.

"Well there's one more little item that's needed to make your disguise complete." Cissnei says.

"What is it?" Zack asks.

"Well it's kind of embarrassing." Aerith says, blushing.

"What?" Zack asks. "What do I need?"

"Well you need..." Cissnei responds, trying not to blush. "Well fake breasts."

"Fake breasts?" Zack asks in shock. "You're kidding right?"

"Nope, afraid not." Cissnei answers. "You'll definitely need them to fool Corneo."

"And where am I supposed to get an item like that from?" Zack asks, a minute away from suggesting they forget this whole disguise thing and just bust into the place.

"Well I know a place." Cissnei says, pulling out a card and handing it to Zack.

"One night trial membership to the Honeybee Inn." Zack reads and then exclaims. "The Honeybee Inn! Are you out of your mind? And how'd you get this anyway?"

"I worked undercover there for two weeks." Cissnei says. "Let's just say that being a Turk sometimes requires to do you unpleasant things that don't involve murder."

"I don't want to know." Zack says. "Let's just get this over with."

* * *

An hour later Zack emerges from the Honey Bee Inn, looking very tired.

"Hey Zack did you get it?" Aerith asks.

"Yes." Zack answers.

"What took you so long?" Cissnei asks.

"Never ask that question again." Zack says. "In fact I never want the two of you to speak of me coming to this place again."

"That bad?" Aerith asks.

"Worse." Zack answers.

"Hey, what's on your face?" Aerith asks. "Is that eyeliner and lipstick?"

"Yes." Zack says. "For my disguise."

"How..." Cissnei begins to ask, but is cut off by Zack.

"Don't ask." Zack says. "Let's just get back to the dress shop to change, so we can meet up with Tifa."

"OK." Aerith says, turning to follow Zack towards the shop. "Hey, Zack, all kidding aside, do you regret having to go through this?"

"No." Zack says, turning to face Aerith. "I may be complaining about it, but if it would help keep you safe I'd wear that dress every day for a year."

At his admission, Aerith sucks her breath because she can sense the truth of the words.

"How sweet." Cissnei says. "But can we save it for later? We had better get to the Don's before dark. It's already 4 pm."

"Right." Aerith says, and then sucks in a breath as for a brief moment, so brief she thinks she may have imagined it. But for one second, she felt a wave of strong jealousy coming off of Cissnei. Whether it was imagined or whether she was jealous of the strong love Zack and Aerith had for each other or if it was that she had feelings for Zack beyond friendship, she could not say and was not sure she wanted to know.

"You coming?" Cissnei asks, noticing that Aerith had stopped.

"Yeah, I'm coming." Aerith says, starting to walk again. She was lost in thought, however. She was certain that Zack had no romantic feelings for Cissnei whatsoever, but if Cissnei did have some for Zack, she knew she would have to broach the topic with her at some point. She only hoped that if Cissnei did have romantic feelings for Zack, she wouldn't get too hurt.


	8. The Four Brides of Don Corneo

Zack, Aerith, and Cissnei stood outside the entrance to Don Corneo's mansion wearing their dresses, getting ready to go in.

"Is everyone ready?" Cissnei asks.

"I'm ready." Aerith answers, shaking off her previous flash of maybe-intuition on Cissnei to think about later. First they had to find Tifa and avoid capture by the Shinra before any heart-to-heart talks could take place.

"Zack?" Cissnei asks.

"I feel ridiculous." Zack says, looking down at his fake breasts for the tenth time, making sure they were secure. "But I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

"OK, let's do this." Cissnei says, opening the door and entering the building.

"Hey it's the two dames from before." one of the guards notices.

"And it looks like they've brought their friend." the other guard says. "But what took you so long?"

"We're sorry we're late." Cissnei answers. "But we wouldn't to look our best and we had some problems getting new dresses."

"Yeah, I think I heard something about the dress shop being understaffed from our secretary." the first guard says. "Well never mind, follow me."

"Hold it a second." the second guard says. "What's that staff you have there for?"

"It's a walking stick." Aerith lies. "I was in an accident sometime ago and I have trouble walking long distances,"

"I'm sorry, but you can't take it in with you." the second guard says. "It could be used as a weapon."

"A weapon?" the first guard laughs. "Come on. Let her keep it. You think any of these three women could seriously pose a threat to us? No offense intended."

"None taken." Aerith says, smiling sweetly.

"Yeah, well I guess you're right." the second guard says. "But if she causes any trouble, you're the one who will take the blame."

At that one of the guards, lead the trio group into the main foyer of the house. "Wait, right here. I'll inform the Don of your arrival."

The guard then walks up the stairs, leaving the group alone.

"OK, we're alone." Zack says. "Now we can look for Tifa. Any ideas on where to look?"

"There's a staircase on the second floor that leads to a hidden basement." Cissnei answers. "That's where the Don keeps the women he acquires until he's ready for them."

"I thought you said you'd never been here before." Zack says.

"I haven't." Cissnei replies, beginning to head up the stairs. "But I have read the Turks' intelligence files on him."

At that Zack looks at Cissnei in disbelief. "And you couldn't have told us that before?"

"Sorry, force of habit." Cissnei shrugs. "Being a Turk is ingrained in my system. Sharing details with non-Turks will take some getting used to."

Zack looks at her in incredulity, while Aerith merely shrugs before following Cissnei up the stairs, with Zack close behind.

* * *

Tifa paced the floor of the basement, trying hard to conceal her anxiousness. She had come here for an undercover mission after Barret had captured a man snooping around near their headquarters. Barret captured the man and after threatening him, he told them that the Don was helping Shinra plan something big. But she had been waiting in this basement for five hours, and she was completely uncomfortable in the teal dress she was wearing.

And to top it all off, she was worried about Cloud. Her first glimpse of him in seven years and he had tried to arrest her. He thought she was a terrorist that had tried to kill over a million people. But she couldn't totally blame him, they had all bought Shinra's lies at one point and she could only imagine that with him working for Shinra, they would work triply hard to make sure that he didn't learn the truth about their nefarious activities. She only hoped he was OK. She couldn't even think about the fact that he might be dead. He just couldn't. He would survive. He was strong. He was a SOLDIER 1st class. They couldn't be killed by a simple fall, after all she had survived a fall off Mt. Nibel when she was only 12. He would be OK.

"Tifa." a woman's voice calls out to her.

She looked up, startled to see three women at the top of the stairs, walking down the stairs towards her. She looked shocked when she recognized one of them.

"Hey, you're the woman who sold me the flower the other day." Tifa says. "What are you doing here?"

"We're looking for you." Aerith says. "It's a long story, but we know you were behind the bombing of Mako Reactor 1. The Shinra has discovered that your base is in Sector 7 and we're here to warn you."

At this Tifa looks completely stunned. "We thought our base's location was compromised." Tifa says, more to herself than to them. "But why would you come to warn me? And why should I trust you."

"Well it's a long story, but the Shinra are after us as well." Aerith says. "Hojo, their chief scientist wants to put me in a lab as a test subject for one of his experiments. Why is a long story I'll tell you when we're someplace else. And you remember, Zack here?"

"Zack?" Tifa asks in shock, looking at the second woman, who is actually Zack in disguise. "Where did you come from and why are you in that dress?"

"Well I just escaped from Hojo's lab in Nibelheim." Zack says. "He stuck me in there after the incident with Sephiroth. He thought I would make a good test subject for one of his experiments. As for why I'm in this dress, we needed to get in here without making a fuss and Aerith thinks this was the best way."

"And you are?" Tifa asks, turning to Cissnei.

"Cissnei, formerly of the Turks." Cissnei replies. "I recently tended my resignation to the Shinra. Let's just say I don't like the way they've been treating their employees."

"I see." Tifa says, trying to absorb everything. "Listen, we can discuss this later. Right now I need to get some information from the Don. Barret, our leader, found a man snooping about in sector 7 and after some persuasion the man let Don Corneo's name slip."

"So you decided to come here and find out what he's up to." Zack says.

"Yep." Tifa says. "I heard Don Corneo is in the market for a bride. Every night he chooses three women, selects one, and takes him to his chamber to... well I have to be the girl for tonight so I can interrogate him."

"I see." Zack says.

"But there are four of us here." Cissnei points out. "And besides, how do we ensure Tifa is the one the Don selects?"

"Hey, there you are." a man's voice comes from up the stairs. "What are you three doing done there? I told you to wait in the foyer. Women nowadays, never listen."

"OK, everyone play it cool." Zack whispers as two men walks down the stairs. "Whichever one of us the Don selects will be in charge of interrogating him. We'll give that person ten minutes, and then the rest of us will break in. Agreed?"

"Agreed." Tifa says, as Aerith and Cissnei nod.

"Hey, there are four ladies here." a new guard says. "There are only supposed to be three."

"We found an extra one." the guard from before replies. "We could always ask one to come back tomorrow."

"No, no, that won't work." the new man says. "We'll just have to take all four to the Don, the more the merrier I guess."

The new man then turns to the woman and introduces himself. "I'm Kotch and this is my associate Kevin. Now if you'll follow us, we'll lead you to the Don's room."

"Sure thing." Tifa replies.

With that the two men leads the group up the stairs and into Don Corneo's office. Don Corneo is sitting at his desk and immediately gets up when the women comes in.

"Boss, we've got a special treat for you tonight." Kotch says. "Four women to choose from."

"Ohh." the Don says, looking them over. "Four, and these look like the best ones yet. Which one to choose?"

"Ladies line up in front of the Don." Kotch orders. The four women immediately line up in a straight line in front of the Don's desk. The Don gets up and walks to the front of his desk.

"Which one to choose?" Don Corneo asks, turning to Tifa. "Ohh, this one is in excellent shape. Looks very athletic as if she's been training to be a gymnast."

"And then there's this one." the Don says turning to Aerith. "Looks fresh and innocent, unspoiled by the ways of the world."

"And this one." the Don continues turning to Zack. "Um, she's very comely and her body doesn't look very womanly. Although she does smell nice and has big boobs."

Zack almost yells out, but Cissnei buts her hand on his arm and shakes her head no, just before Corneo turns his attention on her.

"And this one." the Don says. "Splendid, a lovely red head with a bright cheery personality."

"My choice for tonight..." Don Corneo says as he walks in front of the women one more time, before stopping in front of Tifa. "Is this raven-haired beauty."

"Um, thank you." Tifa says, disgusted at Don Corneo's sexist attitude, but glad that he selected her so she could question him.

"Boys." Don Corneo says, snapping his fingers. "You can have the rest."

"Thank you boss." Kotch says, as he and the other guards go up to the other three women and escorting them out of the office.

"Now, shall we retire to my chambers, my pretty?" the Don asks, opening the door to his bedroom.

"We shall." Tifa says, trying to hold down her bile as she enters the room. As soon as she enters the room, the Don closes the door.

"Alone at last." Don Corneo says jumping on the bed. "All right, pussycat. Come to daddy."

At this line Tifa loses the last restraint holding back her disgust at the man.

"What's the matter?" the Don asks. "Don't you like me."

"No." Tifa answers simply.

"You don't?" the Don asks, hurt. "There's someone else isn't there?"

"Yes." Tifa says, trying to play it coolly to get some information out of him. "His name's Barret."

"Barret?" the Don asks, trying to think. "That name sounds familiar."

"You know he's one of the members of AVALANCHE." Tifa says. "The one you were trying to find info on for Shinra."

"Oh right." Corneo says thoughtfully and then freezes in shock. "How did you know that?"

"The gig's over." Tifa says, ripping off her dress to reveal her regular clothes underneath. She takes her shoes and gloves out of a purse she was carrying and calmly puts them on. "You're going to tell me what you know or else."

"Oh yeah, little girlie?" Corneo says confidently. "Well take this."

Corneo quickly pulls out a gun and aims it at Tifa, but before he can pull the trigger, Tifa leaps into the air, startling the Don. Tifa quickly kicks it out of his hand and punches him in the stomach leaving him gasping for air.

"You disgust me." Tifa says.

"Guards." Corneo croaks.

"They won't be coming." Zack says as he bursts into the room with sword drawn, with Aerith and Cissnei right behind him. They both have their weapons drawn as well and all three had changed back into their normal clothes.

"Hey you the three women from before." Corneo says. "And one of you is a man! This was a set-up from the start."

"That's right." Zack says. "Now you're going to start answering this young lady's questions or else I'll cut it off."

"Cut what off?" Corneo asks, confused.

"Guess." Zack says with a mean stare.

"No!" Corneo screams in horror. "Not that. Anything but that."

"Then start talking." Tifa says. "What did your employee find out?"

Corneo hesitates for a moment, before Cissnei walks up to him.

"Start talking, or I'll slice it off." Cissnei says with a deadly smile.

"No, not that." Corneo screams in terror. "I'll talk."

"I made him find out where the man with the gun-arm was." Corneo says. "But I was only doing as I was ordered."

"By who?" Tifa asks, growing uneasy.

"No, if I tell you that they'll kill me." Corneo says.

"And if you don't talk I'll rip it off." Aerith says.

"Aerith!" Zack exclaims in shock.

"What?" Aerith asks. "I can be intimidating too."

"I know but..." Zack begins.

"Can you two talk about this when we're not threatening a guy?" Cissnei asks in exasperation.

"Sorry." Zack and Aerith reply in unison.

"OK, OK." Corneo whines. "It was Heideggar of Shinra! Heideggar, the head of Public Safety Maintenance!"

"The head of Public Safety Maintenance!" Cissnei exclaims.

"What did he want?" Tifa asks. "Talk or I'll smash them."

"You're not fooling around are you?" Corneo asks. "Well I'm serious too. Shinra is trying to eradicate a small rebel group called AVALANCHE and they want to eliminate their hideout before they gain support, so they're going to crush them."

"Crush them?" Aerith asks. "How?"

"They're going to break the support holding up the Sector 7 plate." Corneo answers. "The plate will go ping slamming into the Sector 7 slums, wiping out everything and everyone in the Sector 7 slums."

"What?" Cissnei asks in horror. "They're going to wipe out the Sector 7 slums? That will kill nearly a hundred thousand people."

"I know." Corneo says. "I'm just glad I'm located here in Sector 6."

"I don't believe it." Zack says. "I know Shinra is evil, but this is extreme even for them."

"We have to stop them." Aerith says.

"Does that mean you'll accompany me to Sector 7?" Tifa asks.

"Of course." Zack answers.

"Let's go." Cissnei says.

The four turn to leave, but are stopped by Corneo.

"Hold it a second." Corneo says, causing the four to look back.

"Shut up." Zack says.

"No wait it will only take a second." Corneo says. "Why do you think a man like me babbles on about the truth like that? 1. Because he's given up on life, 2. Because he's sure he'll win, or 3. Because he's clueless."

"I'll go with number three." Zack says, turning back towards the door.

"Wrong." Corneo says, pulling a lever causing a trapdoor to open beneath the four. Before they can react the four had plunged into the sewer below. "The correct answer was number 2, but do say hello to my pet Aps for me."

* * *

Elsewhere at the Shinra Building, President Shinra was sitting in his office fighting off a major headache. Hojo, Reeve, Tseng, and Heideggar were all standing in front of his desk wanting to talk to him. But it wasn't going well considering that Hojo was ranting and raving about the lost ancient girl.

"I can't believe this." Hojo says. "Four Turks! Four Turks, who are supposed to be the toughest members in this organization! You're supposed to be more resourceful than even SOLDIER members! How could you lose to one little girl and by a failure of an experiment, whom you were supposed to recapture over a month ago! You are all worthless pieces of..."

"Quiet!" President Shinra shouts having lost his patience. "Hojo, one more word out of you and you'll be demoted to testing our cosmetics on chipmunks!"

Hojo raises his hand, as if to go into another rant, but stops cold at the look of deadly seriousness on the President's face. He was arrogant, but he wasn't so arrogant that he could presume to be indispensable to the President, so he kept his mouth shut.

"Now let me see if I got this straight from your report." President Shinra says. "You went to capture the Ancient."

"Yes, Mr. President." Tseng says. "She put up some resistance and managed to knock out our new recruit, Elena. We were about to take her by force, when her supposedly dead boyfriend showed up and knocked her out."

"Ah yes." President Shinra says. "A SOLDIER 1st class by the name of Zack Fair. Reported dead by you Professor Hojo. And then a month ago reported as an escaped lab experiment. I don't recall giving you permission to experiment on any of our 1st Classes. We're decidedly sort of them with the deaths of Sephiroth, Genesis, and Angeal."

"Well he was almost dead." Professor Hojo says, defiantly. "If I hadn't used my procedures on him, he would most certainly be dead."

"Oh please, your intentions weren't that noble and we both know it." the President says. "I give you a great deal of latitude in your experiments, but I still expect you to file accurate reports. You have until the end of the day to make sure you have filed anything with no consequences. If I find you've neglected to report anything after that time, you really will be testing cosmetics on chipmunks."

"I'll update them at once." Hojo says with a gulp. "But about the Ancient?"

"She will be found and delivered to you." President Shinra answers. "Dismissed."

"Yes, sir." Hojo says, turning to leave. "You better get her." he says to Tseng on the way out.

"Now according to your report, the SOLDIER 1st class, Cloud landed on top of you after having fallen out of the Sector 5 reactor." Tseng says.

"Yes, the cameras we planted in the church caught in quite clearly." Tseng says. "From what we learned, it appears that one of the terrorists in AVALANCHE was Cloud's childhood sweetheart. From what she told him at the Sector 5 reactor and Zack had told him in the church, we can assume he now knows the basic truth of what happened at Nibelheim."

"Which would explain why he hasn't checked in." the President says. "What does he intend to do?"

"He intends to tell your son, Rufus about what he learned." Tseng says. "Your son and Cloud have become close friends. I believe that if Cloud tells him about what he learned, Rufus will investigate and he does have the resources to uncover the truth."

"I was afraid of that." President Shinra says. "Heideggar."

"From what I've learned Rufus has already left Wutai and is on his way to the Costa continent." Heideggar replies. "We can assume Cloud has already informed Rufus of some of what he knows over the phone, killing Cloud now won't do us any good and will just alienate Rufus further."

"I see." the President says. "Well I knew I'd have to inform Rufus of the truth, sooner or later. I only hope he's grown mature enough to accept the necessities of my actions."

Before he can continue, Reno walks into the room looking grim. He walks over to Tseng and whispers something in his ear, causing the normally unflappable Tseng to explode in anger.

"She did what?" Tseng yells. "I want her hunted down and brought before me. This is a complete violation of everything it means to be a Turk."

"Ahem." the President says, causing Reno and Tseng to look at him. "I assume from your tone, you found the missing Turk who had tendered their resignation. I can also assume that it's not good news."

"No sir, it's not." Tseng answers. "It appears that Cissnei, who was friends with the SOLDIER Zack has teamed up with him and is helping him shelter the fugitive Ancient."

"I see." the President says.

"Do not worry sir." Tseng says. "We will capture Zack and the Ancient and then deal with the rouge Turk."

"Reeducation camp?" the President asks.

"Yes, it is extreme, but in this case I fear we have no alternative." Tseng says.

"You know her actions could be considered treasonous." the President says.

"She is young and has become confused." Tseng replies. "This is Turk business."

"Very well." President Shinra replies. "I will leave this matter to you, but if she cannot be reeducated I will expect you to personally carry out her execution. Now get on it immediately."

"Yes sir." Tseng answers, dispassionately as he exits the office.

"Now what of our plans to destroy Sector 7?" President Shinra asks.

"Reno has already been dispatched to the pillar support." Heideggar answers. "Sector 7 should be wiped out in less than three hours."

"Sir, with all due respect are you really going to do this?" Reeve asks. "Destroy an entire Sector to wipe out a group with only a few members? The Sector Seven Upper Plate is home to hundreds of Shinra Factories. We will take billions in damage. And there are nearly are nearly a hundred thousand people living in the Sector 7 slums. Even with extreme luck, the minimal number of causalities will be at least fifty thousand."

"You have a problem with this?" President Shinra asks. "You want out?"

"...No." Reeve answers. "But as the head of the Urban Development Department, I have been involved in the building and running of Midgar."

"Reeve, shove your personal problems up your ass." Heideggar says.

"The mayor's against this as well." Reeve protests weakly, knowing that nothing he could say will change their minds.

"Mayor?" Heideggar asks with a laugh. "He's nothing but a public relations figurehead. He just sits in this building all day, feeding his face until we need a public relations release."

Heideggar then turns to leave the office and Reeve goes to follow him out, but is stopped by the President.

"Reeve, you're tired." President Shinra says. "Why don't you take a couple of days off to rest. You'll need all your energy to commence the reconstruction of Sector 7."

"Yes sir." Reeve says, defeated.

"This is perfect." President Shinra says as Reeve exits. "We'll wipe out Sector 7 and report AVALANCE did it. Then we'll send in the rescue operations care of Shinra. All we need is a picture of Shinra Troops rescuing one little child. AVALANCHE will never see another member and Shinra will be seen as the heroic rescuers of little children. Hmm, I better round up a good child actor to play the part as I don't think any real children will survive my attack."


	9. The Sewer Beasts of Wall Market

Zack awakens with a groan as he notices he is in a sewer. "Aerith! Cissnei! Tifa! Are you OK?" he shouts, looking for his companions as he gets up.

"I'm here." Aerith replies, walking over to him.

"I'm OK." Cissnei says, getting up. "Tifa, are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Tifa answers, getting worried about her friends. "But we have to get to Sector 7 and stop the Shinra."

As she begins to stand up, a huge blue monster rushes towards them. Tifa barely manages to dodge out of its' way before it runs into her. Unfortunately, this leaves Cissnei directly in the beasts' path. Before she can respond, Aps knocks her to the ground and starts clawing at her face.

"Cissnei." Zack and Aerith scream in unison as they rush over to help her. Zack quickly draws his sword while Aerith uses Fire1 on the beast. The spell causes the beast to howl out in pain. This causes enough of a distraction to allow Tifa to leap into the battle. She quickly unleashes a series of lightning-flash punches to its' face, knocking the beast away from Cissnei. The monster then turns its' full fury on the brunette woman. It lets out a howl and summons a huge tidal wave, which knocks Tifa against the wall. It continues pounding water into Tifa's lungs, making her grasp for air.

Zack, takes advantage of the beasts' focus on Tifa to deliver several quick slices to the beast's hide. The beast howls out in pain and breaks off its' attack of Tifa. The beast then turns its' full attention on Zack. It raises its' massive claw to attack Zack, but Zack manages to block the beast with his trusty Buster Sword.

While Zack is keeping the monster busy, Aerith rushes over to help Tifa and Cissnei. She is very concerned as they both appear to be dazed, Aerith turns to her materia pouch only to remember she left her cure materia with her mother to use at the hospital. Berating herself for having made such a lapse, she wonders what she could do to help them. She notices Zack putting his all into protecting the three of them and suddenly the answer comes to her.

She was an Ancient. She had powers that enabled her to communicate with the Planet. The problem she had with communicating with the Planet wasn't due to the Mako Reactors, OK it was put of it, but a lot of it was her own inability to fully accept who she was. With the Shinra after her, she had always denied her powers, wanting to be normal so the Shinra wouldn't be after her. But Zack accepted her for who she was, he loved all of her. It made no difference that she had special powers. The Shinra were evil, they were attempting to kill an entire town just so they could maintain their powers. She would no longer fear her powers, she would embrace them.

As she thinks this, she can feel a power she had never felt before well inside her. She summoned the power of the Planet and focused it on Cissnei and Tifa, completely healing their wounds.

"What happened?" Cissnei asks, regaining consciousness without a scratch on her.

"I'll explain later." Aerith says. "Right now Zack needs your help."

She points to Zack, who is still fighting the beast. The creature is lightning fast and neither one is able to gain an advantage.

"Leave that to me." Tifa says. "Time for some payback. Cissnei, on my mark, hit the beast with your Shuriken."

Tifa leaps into battle, surprising both Zack and the beast. She quickly delivers a series of lightning punches to the creature and follows it up with a somersault kick, knocking it into the nearby sewer wall. Then using a trick taught to her by her master, Zangan, she summons an elemental wave of water that washes over the beast. She finishes up by lifting the creature up off the ground and throwing it back to the ground on its' back. "Cissnei, now!"

Cissnei responds by throwing her Shuriken at the creature's exposed underside and Aerith joins in by casting a Fire1 spell. The creature, though badly wounded, manages to get back on its' feet. Though it is bleeding from several places and can barely stand, it prepares for another strike.

"Time to finish this." Zack says, leaping into battle and slices the beast's head off with his sword, killing it instantly. "Is everyone OK?"

"I feel fine." Tifa says. "Better then fine, I feel totally energized."

"Me too." Cissnei says. "All my scratches are gone and I feel buzzed with energy. Aerith, I didn't know you had any high-powered Cure materia with you."

"I don't." Aerith says. "I only had Cure1 and I left that with my mother."

'Then how did you heal us?" Cissnei asks, confused.

"I just asked the planet to heal you." Aerith says simply.

"You asked the planet to heal us?" Tifa asks, also confused.

"Aerith is an Ancient." Cissnei explains. "She is the last one of her kind and has special powers, which is why the Shinra are after her. Although I didn't know she could do that."

"Neither did I." Aerith says. "Looks like Hojo was right about my powers developing."

"Can we discuss this later?" Zack says. "We have to get to Sector 7 before Shinra wipes it out."

"You're right." Tifa says. "Let's go."

With that the group runs through the sewer, trying to find a manhole so they can get back above ground. The group walks in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Zack is wondering how Cloud is doing, if Rufus truly is his friend or if he's as evil as his father.

They eventually reach a dead end, except for a ladder heading down.

"Hold on a minute." Zack says. "I think if we take this ladder down, we'll exit the Sector 6 sewer system and enter the Sector 7 one. Then we go up a few sections and there's a ladder leading into the train graveyard."

"How do you know that?" Cissnei asks, shocked.

"When I made SOLDIER 3rd class, I was assigned to Reeve Tuesti's guard detail for six months." Zack answers. "He's the Shinra's head of urban development. You wouldn't believe how many meetings I had to sit in on. After awhile you pick some things up."

"I see." Cissnei says as the group climbs down the ladder.

"Now which way do we go?" Aerith asks, when they are at the bottom.

"Well if I remember correctly, it's five sections down this way." Zack says, running down the tunnel with the others in tow.

"Come on, move faster." Tifa says as she runs. "Sector 7 doesn't have a lot of time left."

"I'm not used to running." Aerith says. "I think I may need to train more."

"Come on, we're almost there." Zack says. "The train graveyard access is in the next section."

But before he can take another step, a group of five green monsters carrying pitch-fork type weapons jump up from the sewers in front of him. Zack quickly draws his sword and attempts to slash one of them, but it withdraws into a ball, and his sword ineffectively hits a hard shell. He then notices that four more groups of five have popped up behind them, making a total of twenty-five.

"What are these?" Zack asks.

"They're Sahagins." Cissnei says. "They were created by one of Shinra's scientists as a method to eliminate rats in the sewer systems. It worked great until they turned rogue and started to attack the sewer workers."

Tifa attempts to deliver a punch to one of the creatures, but it withdraws into its' shell before the blow can connect, and her attack bounces ineffectively off the creatures' shell as well. "That's great to know, but how do you kill them."

"Let me see if I can remember." Cissnei says, thinking. "I believe they're immune to physical attacks."

"We already got that." Zack says, as he dodges one of the creatures' weapons and tries once again to hit it with his sword.

"Oh!" Cissnei exclaims. "I remember now, they're vulnerable to magic. Use your materia."

"I would." Zack says. "But I lost all mine after the battle with Genesis. Tifa, you have any?"

"All I have is a Cure1 that Jessie gave me." Tifa says. "I left the rest of mine at AVALANCHE's headquarters."

"Great, I don't have any either." Cissnei says. "I didn't feel right stealing from the company, even after learning what they were."

"I have some." Aerith says. "Some low level spells Zack left me with."

"That's a violation of Shinra company policy, subject to..." Cissnei begins to recite, before catching herself. "Sorry, guess I still haven't totally adjusted to being a fugitive. So what you got?"

"I got a Fire1, Lightning1, Quake1, and Blizzard1." Aerith says. "Catch."

With that Aerith throws three green orbs at her companions. She then expertly fires her Blizzard1 spell at a group of the Sahagins. Two manage to dodge the spell, but three of them are hit full on and die instantly.

"See nothing to it." Aerith says, preparing to cast another spell.

"Right." Zack replies, casting the Lightning1 spell Aerith has given him. The spell hits head on, taken out a group of five. While he is casting the spell, Tifa manages to take out four with a Fire1 spell, Cissnei takes out another three with Quake1, and Aerith manages to take out an entire group of five with her Blizzard1 spell for a total of twenty taken out.

"Did we get them all?" Zack asks.

"Let's see." Aerith says. "There were twenty-five total. I took out eight."

"I took out four." Tifa says.

"I got three." Cissnei adds.

"And I took out five." Zack counts. "That's a total of twenty? Where are the other five."

"Uh, looks like they went for reinforcements." Aerith says, pointing behind him.

Zack turns around to notice, they are now surrounded by about a hundred Sahagins.

"How many of these things did Shinra make?" Zack asks.

"About fifty-thousand." Cissnei answers. "Although about half of them have already been wiped out. And not all of them can be in this section."

"Well that's reassuring." Zack says.

"Are you sure you lost all of your materia?" Cissnei asks. "You don't have any summon materia left?"

"Summon materia?" Aerith asks. "What's that?"

"It's a red-colored powerful materia that can summon a creature of legend for a very powerful attack." Cissnei says, as she and the others prepare to defend themselves.

"Red-colored?" Aerith asks, pulling a red materia out of her pouch. "You mean like this?"

"Where did you get that?" Zack asks, shocked. "I never left you a summon materia and they're very rare."

"I found it one morning on the church rafters where the Angeal copy slept." Aerith says. "He left one day about three years ago and I never saw him again, but one day I went up into the rafters and found this. Having only seen green materia before, I kept it, hoping you'd know what it was."

"Well don't just stand there!" Cissnei says. "Use it!"

"Right." Aerith says, putting the materia in a slot in her staff. She then closes her eyes and focuses on summoning the creature that the materia orb contains. A second later a chocobo being ridden by a mog appears out of thin air and flattens half of the Sahagins.

"What materia was that?" Tifa asks.

"Choco/Mog." Cissnei says. "It's not a powerful summon, but it is kind of cute."

"Talk later." Zack says as the remaining Sahagins advance on them. "We have to fight our way past these creeps and get to Sector 7." He then lets loose with another Lighting1 spell, with the others following his lead.

After another twenty of them are taken down, the Sahagins start to adapt to their strategy and begin moving too fast for them to hit. They then start firing water jets from their mouth. Five of them surround Zack and try to poke him with their weapons, but Zack is quick and manages to block their attacks with his sword. He swipes at them with his sword, but they withdraw into their shells again, when an idea dawns.

"Guys, they are too fast to hit when they're upright but in order to become immune to physical attacks they have to withdraw into their shells and become stationary." Zack says. "So here's the plan, two of us will hit them with physical attacks causing them to become stationary, while the other two hit them with spells. Cissnei and Tifa, you two team up. Aerith, you're with me."

"Right." the three women agree.

Tifa quickly leaps into action and delivers several kicks and punches to seven of the monsters. The monsters quickly retreat into their shells, and remain unharmed, but this leaves them vulnerable to the Quake1 spell which Cissnei casts on them, instantly taking them out. In the mean time Zack swings his sword at a dozen of them, allowing Aerith to freeze them with the Blizzard spell. Using this new tactic they quickly make short work of the creatures. Once they are all gone, the group quickly climbs up the ladder.

"Is this the Sector 7 train graveyard?" Cissnei asks.

"Yes." Tifa answers, and looks around. "It looks like Sector 7 is still intact, but we have to hurry."

The group quickly runs around, only to find their way blocked by dozens of train cars, lying on their sides. Many of them have holes in them.

"This could be a problem." Tifa says.

"We could just climb over them." Aerith suggests.

"They don't really look that sturdy." Zack says. "I don't know if they'll support our weight."

"Well we have to do something." Tifa says. "We need to get to the plate support."

"Just give me a second to think." Zack says, looking around. "Hold on, I think I've got an idea."

* * *

Elsewhere in a bar in Costa del Sol, Rufus was sitting in a private booth waiting for his friend Cloud Strife.

"Hey Cloud." Rufus says, as Cloud enters the bar and joins him. "What was so urgent that you needed me to meet you here? And what's with all the secrecy about me not telling anyone where I was going."

"Well I sort of got myself into a bind." Cloud says. "You may find what I'm about to tell you hard to believe and I'm not sure I believe it myself, but I was told the same thing by two of my oldest friends, so I don't know what to think."

"That made no sense to me, whatsoever." Rufus says. "Why don't you start from the beginning?"

"You heard about the bombing of Mako Reactor 1?" Cloud asks.

"Yes." Rufus says. "I assume your being recalled to Midgar had something to do with that?"

"It did." Cloud says. "Your father laid out some bait to lead them to the number 5 reactor and had me there to apprehend the criminals."

"And what happened?" Rufus asks.

"Well the bait worked, but there were a couple of unexpected surprises." Cloud says. "My friend Tifa was one of the terrorists."

"Tifa?" Rufus asks shocked. "Your childhood friend from Nibelheim? She was working for the terrorists?"

"Yeah." Cloud admits. "I was so shocked I dropped my sword. I asked her how she could be working with people who wanted to kill tens of thousands of innocent people and she told me the bomb they planted worked as they intended to safely destroy the reactor."

Cloud pauses and takes a deep breath before continuing. "She then started to tell me that Sephiroth went insane and burnt Nibelheim to the ground five years ago."

"But I thought you went to Nibelheim for your mom's funeral four years ago?" Rufus asks.

"I did." Cloud says. "But I was only there for three hours, before I had to go on an emergency assignment and I didn't see anyone I recognized at the funeral. At the time I thought it was a little odd, but didn't really think anything of it."

"So you believed her?" Rufus asked.

"Not at the time." Cloud says. "I was shocked at the sight of her, and couldn't think straight. When I managed to recover enough, I theorized that the others had brainwashed her somehow."

"A reasonable assumption." Rufus says.

"I told her I was friends with you and would get her help." Cloud says. "I then turned to arrest the two terrorists with her, when a Shinra weapon appeared and started to attack. I told it to stand down, that I had the situation under control, but it didn't respond and started to attack me. I repeated my stand-down order three times, but to no effect."

"Oh no." Rufus groans. "Not another malfunctioning weapon. When will my father learn to fully test them before releasing them? We've had sentry machines attacking our employees so often we've had to put a clause in our employees' contracts saying they can't sue."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Cloud says. "So after the third time I told it to stand down, I had to destroy it. But this caused an explosion, knocking me off the plate and into the slums."

"You fell off of the plate?" Rufus asks, incredulous.

"And into the slums." Cloud repeats.

"And you survived?" Rufus asks, still in disbelief. "How?"

"I don't know." Cloud answers. "But I ended up in a church in the slums. I awoke to find my friend, Zack and his girlfriend standing over me."

"Zack?" Rufus asks, confused. "Zack Fair, SOLDIER 1st class?"

"Yes." Cloud answers.

"But he was reported killed in action at Nibelheim." Rufus says.

"Yeah, I know." Cloud says. "He confirmed Tifa's story to me and told me that Shinra had rebuilt the town and staffed it with employees to cover up what really happened. He also said Hojo had stuck him in a laboratory and performed experiments on him."

"I see." Rufus says. "Do you believe him?"

"Yes, I could put Tifa's story off to brainwashing." Cloud says. "But I can't doubt both of them."

"Hmm." Rufus says thoughtfully. "I know my father has used certain heavy-handed tactics that I don't approve of, but I don't think even he would go this far."

"There's more." Cloud says. "The Turks were also at the church. They were trying to kidnap Zack's girlfriend. According to Zack, Hojo needed her for one of his experiments."

"Well the part about Hojo I can believe." Rufus says. "That guy has always creeped me out, but as for the rest of it..."

"I know it sounds bad, but Tifa and Zack are my two closest friends." Cloud says. "And it would explain several odd things over the past few years that I thought a little odd at the time, but never really thought much about."

"Hmm, I don't believe my father would be involved in things like this." Rufus says. "But some of his employees' are a little on the shady side. I take it you left Midgar without permission?"

"Yes." Cloud answers.

"OK." Rufus replies. "Here's what I'm going to do. The two of us are going back to Midgar. I'll make up an excuse about why you left Midgar. Then, I'll have a few of my loyal people who dislike my father look into this. If there's anything to this story, I'll get to the bottom of it."

"Thanks Rufus." Cloud says. "I knew I could count on you."

"Don't thank me yet." Rufus says. "I may not be able to find anything out. And even if I do, it won't necessarily be to your liking."

"I can't imagine finding anything about this situation that will be to my liking." Cloud says.

"Fair point." Rufus says. "Well you should go to my beach house and get some sleep. I'll begin making the preparations to return to Midgar. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

"Right." Cloud says leaving the inn, leaving Rufus alone in thought.


	10. The Assault of Sector 7

Zack, Aerith, Cissnei, and Tifa arrive at the Sector 7 pillar, having gotten past the train graveyard by using Zack's idea to use one of the working train engines to plow through the wreckage. When they reach the fence protecting the pillar, they find the lock broken and a single man looking up at the pillar staring anxiously. They can also hear the faint sounds of gunfire, coming from the top.

"What's going on?" Zack asks the person.

"Someone's trying to bring the plate down on us." the man says. "They already bypassed the bottom lock and are now attempting to take out the top controls. If they succeed, the Sector 7 slums will be wiped out."

"What's with the gunfire?" Cissnei asks.

"A group of about three or four people are up there trying to stop them." the man answers. "A bunch of other people are going around, trying to evacuate the Sector but not something is wrong with the phone lines, so they're having to go door to door."

"The Shinra probably cut them." Zack says.

"Well why aren't you helping them?" Tifa asks. "Or helping with the fight?"

"I'm no fighter." the man says. "And I am helping with the evacuation."

"How?" Aerith asks.

"With this." the man says, holding up a walkie-talkie. "With the phones down, we're having to rely on walkie-talkies. Each evacuator has been issued one, and if it looks like the plate is about to come down, I'm to relay the info to them, so they can get to safety."

"But how will you know when it's time to evacuate?" Zack asks. "And will they have time to evacuate?"

"See that light over there." the man points to a glowing green light. "That's a tamper-proof failsafe. It will keep the plate from falling for five minutes when all other safety systems fail. When that light turns yellow, you have five minutes to get clear before the plate falls.

"I see." Tifa says, and then curses.

"What is it?" Cissnei asks.

"Marlene." Tifa says. "Barret, Wedge, Biggs, and Jessie are probably the ones up there trying to stop them, so Marlene would have been left alone in my bar."

"Who's Marlene?" Zack asks.

"Barret's five year-old daughter." Tifa answers. "Someone has to go help her."

Before she can say another word, there's a loud explosion and the group looks up just in time to see a person fall off of the pillar. He lands on the ground next to them, and Tifa immediately runs over to him.

"Wedge." Tifa says, feeling for a pulse and trying her Cure1 spell, but to no avail.

"He's dead." Aerith says.

"No." Tifa says, breaking down in tears. "He can't be, can't you use one of those special powers you supposedly possess?"

"I can't raise the dead." Aerith replies sadly. "I can only heal the living. I'm sorry."

"No...no...no..." Tifa says, as another explosion goes off overhead. "I can't lose another person I care about. First Cloud and now Wedge."

"Cloud?" Aerith asks.

"Cloud's still alive." Zack says. "He survived the fall from the number 5 Reactor."

"Really?" Tifa asks, torn between grief and hope.

"Really." Zack says. "We talked to him, and managed to convince him to look for answers to Shinra's lies."

"This is all well and good." Cissnei says, as another explosion can be heard from overhead. "But if we don't hurry up and help, this entire Sector is going to be a memory."

"It's getting too dangerous for me." the man says. "I have a wife and two daughters."

"Go." Cissnei says, taking the walkie-talkie from his hands. "I'll stay here to notify the rescue workers of the pillar's status."

"Thank you, miss." the man says as he runs off. "I'll never forget you."

"But what about Marlene?" Tifa asks.

"I'll go get her." Aerith says. "I'll take her back to the Sector 6 inn where we left my mother."

"But I can't leave you alone, the Shinra..." Zack begins but is cut off by Aerith.

"Zack, go help Tifa and the others." Aerith says. "You need to stop the Shinra from wiping out this sector. I'll take care of Marlene."

Aerith then gives Zack a quick kiss on the lips. "Go quickly." with that Aerith runs off.

Zack watches her go with a sense of foreboding before Cissnei hits him on the back of his head.

"You heard the woman, go save the Sector." Cissnei berates him.

"Right." Zack says, as he draws his Buster Sword. "Tifa, let's go."

The two start running up the stairs of the tower. They don't get far, before they encounter a group of robots with propellers attacking a young woman. The woman is bleeding from several open wounds and there are at least twenty disabled robots laying around her, proving that she did not go down without a fight.

"Jessie!" Tifa screams as she leaps into battle. She delivers a power kick to one of them, while simultaneously hitting another one, taking them both out. She then uses her Fire1 spell to take out two more of them. In the meantime Zack slices another two of them with his sword and shorts out the remaining three with his Lightning1 spell. Tifa then attempts to use her Cure1 spell on Jessie, but to no effect.

"Tifa." Jessie coughs, spitting up blood. "You made it."

"Don't worry, Jessie." Tifa says. "You're going to be OK."

"No I'm not." Jessie says, and then notices Zack. "Tifa, behind you. There's a member of SOLDIER."

"Actually, I'm an ex-SOLDIER." Zack says. "I'm here to help you."

"Really?" Jessie asks weakly.

"Yes." Tifa says. "It's a long story, but the Shinra are after him too."

"Yeah, I joined SOLDIER to protect the citizens of MIDGAR." Zack says. "And that's what I intend to do."

"Good." Jessie says as she starts having difficultly breathing. "Help Barret, he's up top."

"Jessie." Tifa says.

"Here, take my materia." Jessie says, handing her an orb. "It's Lightning1. It's very effective against these machines. Tifa it was good seeing you one last time."

With that Jessie stops breathing. Tifa tries one last time to use her Cure spell on Jessie, but to no avail.

"Jessie, you will be avenged." Tifa vows.

"Shinra, you will pay for this." Zack adds. "For Angeal, Genesis, Biggs, Jessie, Aerith's parents, Nibelheim, Gongaga, and even Sephiroth, you will pay for your crimes."

"Sephiroth?" Tifa asks in fury. "You're seeking revenge for that monster?"

"Sephiroth may have been a monster, but the Shinra are the ones who created him." Zack says. "It's a long story, one which I will explain later."

"I'll hold you to that." Tifa says. "Right now we have to stop the Shinra."

The two continue their climb of the tower but before they get far, twenty-more heli-machines appear in front of them. They begin firing their machine guns at the two, but Zack blocks the bullets with his sword, while Tifa uses her incredible reflexes to dodge out of the way. She then lets loose with a blast of Lightning1, taking out two of the machines as the rest fly out of the way. Before, they can regroup she leaps into battle, punching out the controls of two of them, kicking another two into a wall, and firing another blast of Lightning1 at three more.

In the meantime, Zack slices up four of the machines and blasts three more with his Lightning1 materia. The machines, realizing their machine-gun fire isn't working, switches tactics. The machines begin to eject their propellers and throw them at the pair as weapons. Zack, uses his swords to deflect three of the blades back at the ones who threw them out him, causing them to explode.

The machines use the same tactics against Tifa, to somewhat greater effect. Tifa having no weapon to deflect them, is forced to dodge them. Having lightning reflexes from years of her martial arts training, she manages to evade the blades with ease, but while she is distracted by the blades, one of the robots manages to sneak up behind her and grab her arms. Two of the machines then advance on her with blades drawn. Zack rushes forward to help her, but before he can reach her, Tifa swings her legs forward kicking the two machines into each other. This causes the machine holding her to slightly loosen its' grip on her. She uses this to her advantage getting one of her arms free, and throwing the robot off the tower.

The two look around, attempting to scan for more robots, only to find the way clear.

"Looks like we got all of them." Tifa says.

"Yeah." Zack says. "Nice moves there."

"Thanks." Tifa says.

"I mean it." Zack says. "I've seen some SOLDIER 3rd class members who couldn't do that."

"Well not everyone needs the Shinra's medical enhancements to become a good fighter." Tifa says. "Granted it takes a longer time."

"Hey, Shinra's treatments don't do everything." Zack says. "3rd class members have enhanced strength and senses, but you still have to train hard to become a good fighter. Only about half make it to 2nd class and only about 5% of those qualify for 1st."

"Yeah, just like you and Cloud." Tifa says. "If Shinra wasn't so evil I could be proud of the two of you."

"Yeah, well, we can discuss this later." Zack responds. "We're almost to the top."

The group ascends to the final staircase, where they find a body riddled with holes.

"Biggs." Tifa says sadly. The two then jump as they hear renewed gunfire and the sound of a helicopter.

"Barret!" Tifa yells, running up the final staircase to find Barret shooting at a Shinra helicopter, preventing it from landing.

"Tifa!" Barret screams. "You made it! Did you see Biggs and Jessie? I hate to tell you but Wedge fell off the tower."

"We saw." Tifa says. "All three of them are dead."

Barret is about to say something when he notices Zack coming up the stairs, he turns his gun-arm to fire at him, but is stopped by Tifa.

"Tifa, what are you doing?" Barret asks. "This god damn sucker is a SOLDIER enemy."

"I'm ex-SOLDIER." Zack clarifies. "I'm here to help you."

"Help my ass." Barret curses, but is interrupted when Reno of the Turks jumps out of the helicopter.

"Well, well, well." Reno says, looking around. "What do we have here? The illustrious traitor joining forcing with AVALANCHE? I never pegged you for being a terrorist."

"You're calling me a terrorist?" Zack asks in disbelief. "I'm not the one who's about to kill tens of thousands of people to spin into some kind of anti-AVALANCHE movement. And the traitor part? I was loyal to the Shinra until they stuck me in a lab and experimented on me for over four years."

"Well, if it's any consolation the experiments were a mistake." Reno admits. "Hojo didn't have permission to use 1st class SOLDIERS as test subjects. Those were discontinued after Genesis went rogue, although Hojo didn't entirely obey that directive."

"Oh that makes me feel so much better." Zack says sarcastically. "And wiping out the Sector 7 slums?"

"I don't exactly approve of the idea, but as a Turk, I am sworn to obey the oaths of the Shinra." Reno says. "And to do that, I'll use any method at my disposal. Including using something you lost."

With that Reno pulls out a red materia orb and activates it. A second later the creature of fire Ifrit appears before them.

"What the hell is that?" Barret asks in shock, having never seen a summon materia before.

"Ifrit!" Zack yells in surprise. He barely has time to dodge out the way as Ifrit lets loose with its' Hellfire attack, knocking all three of them down.

The three of them are breathing hard, having been burned badly by the monster. Tifa quickly uses a Cure1, spell healing the worst of the burns and enabling them to stand up.

"We scavenged the remains of Banora village and managed to find most of your materia." Reno says, and while the group are struggling to regain their strength, he walks over to the controls and inputs a series of commands into the main control console.

"No, don't." Zack says, as he regains enough of his strength to draw his Buster Sword.

Barret notices that the green light on the console has turned to yellow and curses. "God damn, you son of a bastard. You just condemned the entire sector to death."

"Not my problem." Reno says. "But I do have a minute or two before my ride returns, so I think I'll take care of the three of you."

"No you won't." Tifa replies as she leaps into battle. Reno doesn't even attempt to knock her blow, it connects to his jaw, knocking him to the ground, but not before he placed his staff on her, encasing Tifa in a golden pyramid of energy. Tifa begins pounding on it in fury, trying to get loose, but to no avail. "What is this?

"A Shinra energy pyramid." Reno says, getting up off the ground, wiping blood off his mouth and using Cure2 to heal his wounds. "It's completely impenetrable."

Zack quickly runs over and slices it with his sword several times, causing it to dissipate immediately.

"What?" Reno asks. "How!"

"I knew the guy who designed that." Zack says with a smile. "He told me he designed a secret flaw in it so it couldn't be used against him."

Reno then starts cursing loudly.

"That what you get for not reading the instructions, fool." Barret says, firing his gun-arm at the Turk. Reno quickly activates MBarrier, preventing the bullets from hitting him at full force. They still stun him, but they don't have enough force to penetrate his skin, preventing him from dying. Reno then sets his cane for electrocute mode and leaps in the air to hit Barret, but Tifa leaps into the air, catches him by the foot and tosses him into the control panel.

Once again, Reno notices blood on his mouth. "You're stronger than you look. Have you ever been in SOLDIER?"

"No." Tifa answers, firing a Fire1 spell at him. "And I have no intention of becoming one."

"Shame, you could have probably made 1st class in record time." Reno says weakly, raising his cane to cast Cure2, but before he can say anything else he finds Zack's Buster Sword at his throat.

"Tell me how to deactivate the destruct device." Zack tells him. "Or else Shinra will be short one more Turk."

"Sorry, there is no way to shut it down." Reno says. Zack curses as he hears a helicopter approach. He is distracted for a fraction of a moment, which is all the time it takes for Reno to knock his sword away and leap into the helicopter.

Barret raises his arm and prepares to fire it.

"I wouldn't do that." Tseng says. "You may injure my special guests here."

Tseng then steps aside to reveal Cissnei unconscious next to her.

"Cissnei!" Zack and Tifa scream in unison.

"You know her?" Barret asks, lowering his arm.

"What did you do to her?" Zack asks.

"I had to knock her out." Tseng says. "She betrayed the Turks when she helped you, and we take that very seriously. She will have to be taken to a reeducation center to be healed."

"Reeducation center?" Barret asks, confused. "You mean brainwashing center? You Shinra brainwash employees who attempt to leave?"

"Brainwashing is such an ugly term." Tseng says. "Now hand over the Ancient."

"Ancient?" Barret asks. "There's no one here that's Ancient."

Tseng looks around and notices that Aerith isn't with them. "Where is she?"

"She's still in Sector 7." Cissnei says weakly, starting to stir. "If you want her, you'd better deactivate the plate release mechanism."

"Nice try." Tseng says. "But I don't think Zack would risk her life, she's nowhere near Sector 7."

"He tried to get her to leave, but she insisted on staying to help with the evacuation." Cissnei replies. "I was supposed to inform the evacuation teams when to leave when the fail-safe activated, but you smashed my walkie-talkie before I could."

"You're serious?" Tseng asks in horror, looking at his watch. "There's no time to go back for her, the plate's going to release in less than a minute."

"You have to stop it." Tifa says.

"I can't. There's no way to stop the release once it starts." Tseng says, regaining his stoic demeanor. "Hojo will be very upset about this loss."

"That's it!" Zack exclaims. "That's all Aerith ever was to you! Some thing to be used and discarded!"

Tseng is silent, as he signals the pilot to take off.

"Tseng, you're a dead man." Zack yells at the departing helicopter. "Next time I see you, you're a dead man."

"Damn it." Barret curses. "Yo! Ex-SOLDIER guy, can't you do something?"

"I'll try." Zack says going over to the controls, he pushes a few buttons and then curses. "Damn! Tseng was telling the truth, there's no way to deactivate this thing."

The ground starts shaking as the plate begins to release.

"We're going to die." Tifa says. "We need to get out of here."

Zack looks around and then notices a construction crane wire.

"That wire." Zack says. "We can use it to swing out of here."

"Hurry." Barret says as he grabs the wire. The other two quickly join him and swing out of the sector, just before the plate releases, slamming into the slums flattening it.

* * *

"This is an emergency broadcast of the Shinra network." a monotone voice on the TV says. "Tonight in the worse act of terrorism the world has ever seen, the renegade group AVALANCHE has launched a successful attack on the plate of Sector 7. At this time the estimated dead are in the tens of thousands with nearly double that injured. Shinra has mobilized all of its' resources to rescue any survivors, but things do not look good. Security has been quadrupled at all remaining pillar supports and the President has signed a declaration of martial law for all of Midgar."

"In a written statement, the President announced he would address the people of Midgar and the world tomorrow." the voice continues. "In the meantime a mandatory curfew of 8 pm has been enforced. All violators are subject to immediate arrest and detention. The Shinra urban rescue and response team will be setting up an emergency hotline. If you believe you have relatives living in Sector 7, please call 1-800-SEC7RES for any information on survivors. This message will repeat until morning."

"This is an emergency broadcast of the Shinra network..."


End file.
